The dead toll from a collapsed building in Abadan, Iran’s southern metropolis, has grown to 31. Two more victims were rescued from the rubble of an under-construction tower that fell a week ago, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Rescuers were busy cleaning the 10-story building’s debris and hunting for other victims beneath the fell portion of the Metropol Building. Two of the 37 injured patients are still in the hospital.
Authorities investigating the accident have imprisoned Abadan’s current and former mayors, as well as a number of other municipal employees, on suspicion of ignoring safety concerns. A total of 13 persons have been arrested for building code infractions thus far.
The catastrophic fall has prompted concerns about the safety of similar structures across the country, as well as highlighting an ongoing construction crisis in Iran. Many compared the collapse to the 2017 fire and collapse of Tehran’s historic Plasco building, which killed 26 people.
Over the last week, protesters have taken to the streets of Abadan, causing riots and skirmishes with riot police on many occasions.
Mourners gathered at the site of the fall on Sunday night, according to the semi-official Fars news agency, after a group of demonstrators attacked a state television camera team, forcing police to disperse people to restore order and security.
More bodies are suspected to be under the building, according to Tasnim, a semi-official news agency.
Young people clashed with police in Abadan and threw rocks at them, according to footage broadcast on Persian-language television channels in other countries.
It was unclear whether anyone was hurt or if the cops made any arrests right away.
