News / Society

Electrical short circuit main cause of Tehran tower blze: Interior minister

Thursday, 26 January 2017 10:34 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 30 January 2017 10:04 AM ]

A rescue worker stands on the rubble of the collapsed Plasco high-rise in downtown Tehran on January 25, 2017.

The deadly blaze which led to the collapse of the Plasco high-rise in downtown Tehran was mainly caused by an electrical short-circuit, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli says.

“Electrical short circuit is the first cause of the Plasco incident,” Rahmani Fazli told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Tehran on Thursday.

The death toll rose to 20 -- 16 fire fighters and four other citizens -- on the eighth day of the rescue operations after rescuers pulled out the bodies of four firefighters from the debris.

Meanwhile, head of Tehran’s Criminal Court of Justice Mohammad Shahryari rejected reports that dozens of people were under the rubble. He said about eight people have been reported as missing so far and investigations are underway to find their location.

Rescuers carry the body of a firefighter from the debris of the collapsed Plasco high-rise in downtown Tehran on January 25, 2017.

The 17-story Plasco Building, built more than 50 years ago, caught fire on January 19 and came down only hours later, leaving several firefighters and others buried under the rubble. More than 190 people were also injured in the incident.

The chances for finding any survivors seem slim due to the extreme heat caused by the fires that have reignited as the debris is being removed.

So far, 1386 trucks have removed a major part of the rubble from the site. However, the operation slowed down on Thursday as workers found a large amount of molten metal gathered in the location, spokesman for the crisis committee Jalal Maleki said.

Tehran Municipality authorities say they had repeatedly warned about safety issues at the building. Plasco, one of Tehran’s oldest high-rises, was home to hundreds of production workshops and was known mostly for its clothing stores.

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