Building collapse in Iran

According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the death toll from a 10-story commercial building collapse in the southern Iranian city of Abadan has risen to 29, with a total of 38 persons reported missing.

On the occasion of a visit to the event site, Khuzestan Province Governor Sadeq Khalilian informed reporters that 29 bodies have been found from the wreckage so far, three of which are unidentified.

He stated that the search for the other trapped bodies is still ongoing, and that the efforts would continue until the final casualty has been removed.

The actual number of individuals trapped beneath the debris is still unknown because the search has been conducted slowly and cautiously for fear of the remaining pieces of the building and neighbouring structures collapsing.

On Sunday, Iran declared a day of national mourning to memorialise the victims of the 10-story building’s partial collapse.

According to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency, ten persons were detained in connection with the tragedy, in which the building’s owner and contractor were slain.

The under-construction Metropol skyscraper stood on a busy thoroughfare in downtown Abadan, surrounded by commercial and medical buildings and offices. On Monday, parts of the structure fell unexpectedly, burying hundreds of people beneath the rubble.