Scores trapped as building collapses in Iran
May 23, 2022
At least five people were killed in Iran's southwestern city of Abadan on Monday after a 10-story building collapsed, state TV reported.
Ehsun Abbaspour, the Abadan regional governor, told state TV that 27 people had been injured.
The death toll could rise, though, as more than 80 people were still believed to be trapped under the rubble after the Metropol building fell, burying shops and even some cars, the Mehr news agency reported.
Locals express anger at authorities
Emergency teams were being dispatched from other cities to help with the rescue operation, with two teams of rescue dogs, a helicopter and seven rescue vehicles already at the scene. Angry residents could be seen shouting slogans against the city authorities.
According to reports, the building was a residential-commercial property still under construction on Amir Kabir Street in the city, which is close to Iran's border with Iraq.
What caused the building to topple is not yet known. But the head of Khuzestan province's judiciary has ordered an investigation into the disaster, and its owner and the contractor who built it have been arrested, state TV said.
jsi/aw (AP, Reuters)