Off the wire
• Two local officials investigated for graft  • Survey shows rich Chinese confident of China's economy  • Europe leading car rental companies pledge to improve services  • Fragile Syrian truce holding ahead of planned peace talks in Kazakhstan: UN official  • Paris CAC 40 index down 0.25 percent Thursday  • Belgian Saive to run for ITTF presidency  • China to expose traffic regulation violators  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  • 2nd LD Writethru: Hong Kong faces new opportunities in 2017: central government official  • 1st LD Writethru: China briefs foreign envoys on anti-graft work  
You are here: 　 Home

Update: Iran confirms death of 20 in commercial building fire

Xinhua, January 20, 2017 Adjust font size:

Tehran's mayor confirmed the death of 20 fire fighters in the commercial building in the capital of Iran on Thursday, Tasnim news agency reported.

Earlier reports said at least 30 people were killed in the collapse of a 17-story commercial building.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that unfortunately the building with 600 commercial shops caught fire on Thursday morning and the firefighters were actively engaged in the rescue operations.

Twenty of the trapped firefighters in the building were killed, Qalibaf said.

At 8:00 a.m. local time (0430 GMT), the fire started from the eighth and ninth floors of the building located on Jomhouri Eslami street, in the downtown area of the capital, and soon it was spread to the upper floors.

The 54-year-old building was very fragile and ravaged by fire despite firefighters' efforts.

Local media also reported that some 70 people were also injured in the incident.

The residents of buildings in the neighborhood have been warned by the police and the rescue operators to leave the buildings.

Also, nearby buildings including the embassies of Turkey and the UK have been evacuated. Authorities at Tehran's governor's office have ruled out terrorism, Press TV said. Endit