Tehran high-rise collapses after catching fire, killing 30 firefighters

The mangled steel structure of Iran’s oldest high-rise, the Plasco building, after it because of a fire. AFP

TEHRAN // At least 30 firefighters were killed and 75 people injured when a high-rise building in central Tehran engulfed by fire collapsed on Thursday.

The disaster struck the Plasco building, an iconic structure located just north of the Iranian capital’s sprawling bazaar. Firefighters, soldiers and other emergency responders dug through the rubble, looking for survivors.

Iran’s state-run Press TV announced the firefighters’ deaths, without giving a source for the information. Local Iranian state television said 30 civilians were injured in the disaster, while the state-run Irna news agency said 45 firefighters had been injured.

Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the collapse. The fire appeared to be most intense in the building’s upper floors, home to garment workshops where tailors cook for themselves and use old kerosene heaters for warmth in winter.

Police tried to prevent shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables from entering the building.

Tehran’s mayor, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said there were “no ordinary civilians” trapped under the rubble. However, witnesses said some people had slipped through the police cordon and gone back into the building.

President Hassan Rouhani ordered interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli to investigate and report the cause of the incident as soon as possible, Irna reported.

He also ordered the ministry to ensure the injured were cared for and to take immediate action to compensate those affected by the disaster.

The building came down in a matter of seconds, with the collapse shown live on state television, which had begun an interview with a journalist at the scene. A side of the building came down first, tumbling perilously close to a fireman perched on a ladder and spraying water on the blaze.

A thick plume of brown smoke rose over the site after the collapse. Onlookers wailed in grief.

Among those watching the disaster unfold was Masoumeh Kazemi, who said she rushed to the building as her two sons and a brother had jobs in the garment workshops occupying the upper floors of the high-rise.

“I do not know where they are now,” Ms Kazemi said, crying.

In a nearby intersection, Abbas Nikkhoo stood with tears in his eyes.

“My nephew was working in a workshop there,” he said. “He has been living with me since moving to Tehran last year from the north of the country in hopes of finding a job.”

Earlier, Jalal Maleki, a fire department spokesman, told Iranian state television that 10 firehouses had responded to the blaze, which was first reported around 8am. He later said authorities had visited the building “many times” to warn them about conditions there.

“They stacked up material on staircases, which was very awful, although we warned them many times,” he said.

Late on Thursday afternoon, another fire broke out at a building next to the collapsed tower, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Firefighters worked to put it out.

Several embassies are located near the building. Turkey’s state-run news agency, reporting from Tehran, said the Turkish embassy was evacuated as a precaution, though it sustained no damage in the collapse.

The Plasco building was an iconic presence on the Tehran skyline.

The 17-story tower was built in the early 1960s by Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian and named after his plastics manufacturing company. It was the tallest building in the city at the time of its construction.

Elghanian was tried on charges that included espionage and executed in the months after the 1979 Islamic Revolution which brought the current ruling system to power – a move that prompted many members of the country’s long-standing Jewish community to flee.

The tower is attached to a multistorey shopping mall featuring a sky-lit atrium and a series of turquoise fountains. It wasn’t immediately clear if the mall was damaged.

* Associated Press