At least 300 people were trapped inside the building when it collapsed. Some 30 firefighters are feared dead.
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Tragedy struck Tehran when the Plasco Trade Centre, one of the city’s biggest shopping malls, collapsed following a devastating fire.
Al Jazeera has reported that some 300 people are trapped under the rubble. At least 30 firefighters are feared to be among the dead. They had arrived around 8 am to put out the fire.
With some 200 firefighters on the site, an evacuation order was issued for the 17-storey iconic building, which dated from the early 1960s. The nearby Turkish and UK embassies were also evacuated.
At 11:32 am, the building, which included residences, a shopping mall and garment workshops, suddenly collapsed.
More than 200 people injured in the incident were taken to local hospitals, the IRNA news agency reported.