The death toll from the building collapse in Iran which occurred two weeks ago has risen to 41 after three more bodies were found, local authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
Africa Today News, New York had on May 23 reported that the 10-storey Metropol building that was under construction in Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province collapsed which sparking angry protests in solidarity with victims’ families.
‘The number of victims of the Metropol accident has risen to 41 after the discovery and identification of three more bodies,’ city governor Ehsan Abbaspour was quoted saying by the official IRNA news agency.
‘Rescue teams are still trying to find more bodies under the rubble.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that Iran’s Vice President for Executive Affairs Solat Mortazavi was quoted as saying that ‘the remains of the building will be completely destroyed after removing the debris’.
The disaster, one of Iran’s deadliest in years, sparked a series of demonstrations across the country against authorities accused of corruption and incompetence.
The regional judiciary said it had arrested 13 people, including Abadan’s mayor and two former mayors, accused of being “responsible” for the tragedy.
In 2017, the collapse in central Tehran of the Plasco Building, a 15-storey shopping mall dating from the early 1960s, killed 22 people, including 16 firefighters.
Africa Today News, New York had two weeks ago reported that no fewer than four people died and about 80 others were still trapped under rubble when an unfinished building collapsed in southwestern Iran, officials have confirmed.
‘Parts of the 10-story Metropol building, located in Abadan, capital of Khuzestan province, collapsed,’ state television said in a broadcast which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York, pointing out that the premises were still under construction.
An initial toll which was taken by authorities confirmed that at least “four people have lost their lives and 21 others have been injured,” Mojtaba Khaledi, spokesman for the national rescue service, was quoted as saying.