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Tehran fire: 30 firefighters killed as high-rise building collapses in Iran Printer friendly page Print This
By Saphora Smith, Evening Standard
Fark
Friday, Jan 20, 2017

The building collapsed in a matter of seconds (AFP/Getty Images)

Thirty firefighters are reported to have been killed and 75 people injured when a burning building in the Iranian capital collapsed.

Iranian State TV reported the deaths and said other people are still believed to be trapped under rubble.

The Plasco building is an iconic, mainly residential, high-rise block in central Theran, situated just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar.

Scores of firefighters fought the blaze for several hours after the building caught fire at around 8am local time (4.30am GMT) on Thursday.

Firefighters try to control the fire (EPA)

The tower came down in a matter of seconds, 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 firefighter perched on a ladder and spraying water on the blaze.

A thick plume of brown smoke rose over the site.

Rescue workers gather in front of the collapsed building in Tehran (EPA)

Iran's state-run Press TV said people were believed to be trapped inside the rubble.

Jalal Maleki, a fire department spokesman, earlier told Iranian state television that 10 fire stations responded to the blaze.

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

The 17-storey 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.

The tower is attached to a multistory shopping mall featuring a sky-lit atrium and a series of turquoise-colored fountains.


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