Building collapse death toll in southwest Iran rises to 26
In this photo provided by Tasnim News Agency, debris hangs from the Metropol buildin,g a 10-story commercial building under construction, in the southwestern city of Abadan, Iran, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Rescuers dug through debris Tuesday of the collapsed building that killed at least 11 people, fearful that many more could still be trapped beneath the rubble as authorities arrested the city's mayor in a widening probe of the disaster. (Hossein Abdollah Asl, Tasnim News Agency via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Hossein Abdollah Asl]
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Rescue teams at the site of a 10-story collapsed building in southwestern Iran pulled seven more bodies from the rubble on Friday, bringing the death toll in the disaster to 26, Iranian state TV reported Friday.
A tower at the Metropol Building that was under-construction in the city of Abadan, collapsed on Monday. Thirty-seven people were rescued, three of them are still being treated in hospital. It remains unclear how many more people are buried beneath the rubble.
Iran’s senior vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, traveled to Abadan and visited the site of the incident on Friday.
Authorities have arrested 11 suspects in a widening probe, including the city’s mayor.
The deadly collapse has raised questions about the safety of similar buildings in the country and underscored an ongoing crisis in Iranian construction projects that has seen other disasters in this earthquake-prone nation.
In this photo released by official website of the office of Iranian Senior Vice-President, on Friday, May 27, 2022, ruins of a tower at under construction 10-story Metropol Building remains after it collapsed on Monday, in the southwestern city of Abadan, Iran. Rescue teams at the site of the tower pulled five more bodies from the rubble on Friday, bringing the death toll in the disaster to 24. (Iranian Senior Vice-President Office via AP)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo released by official website of the office of Iranian Senior Vice-President, on Friday, May 27, 2022, Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, second right, visits the site of a tower at under construction 10-story Metropol Building which collapsed on Monday, in the southwestern city of Abadan, Iran. Rescue teams at the site of the tower pulled five more bodies from the rubble on Friday, bringing the death toll in the disaster to 24. (Iranian Senior Vice-President Office via AP)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Abadan provincial officials have cited “disregard for technical standards” and “”overbuilding” during construction, saying negligence caused the collapse. The building was legally permitted to be only a six-story tower, but four floors had been added during construction.
The collapse reminded many of the 2017 fire and collapse of the iconic Plasco building in the Iranian capital, Tehran, that killed 26 people.
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