Print this page
Email this to a friend
Discuss this article (0 Comments)
POST A COMMENT
Mobile
-
Snagging Team Coordinator
Industry: Construction
Location: Dubai, UAE -
Interior Designer
Industry: Construction
Location: Dubai, UAE
Up to 19 dead in Tehran building collapse
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Monday, 30 June 2008
SHOCKING ACCIDENT: Up to 19 people have died in the building collapse in Tehran Picture for illustrative purposes only. (AFP)
At least three workers were killed on Monday when around 20 people were trapped by the collapse of a seven-storey apartment block in northwest Tehran, local media reported.
"Workers were sleeping in the building which collapsed in the morning," Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was quoted as saying by state radio.
"Unfortunately all these workers - about 20 - were affected by the accident. So far no-one has been rescued," he added.
The student news agency ISNA said that three bodies had been recovered from the rubble of the building but amid some confusion over the toll state radio gave the number as high as 19.
State television said rescue workers were still trying to recover people from the debris. It was not clear how many people were still feared trapped in the wreckage of the building.
Television pictures showed that the apartment block - in the Sadatabad district - had completely collapsed into a heap of wires, concrete blocks and dust.
The workers had been recovering construction material from the building which had received an order to be demolished. The original foundations of the building were said to be 17 years old but new storeys had been added on.
The apartment block had already been evacuated by residents after it was found that a foundation column had started to wilt, reports said.
"This building was first authorised to have three storeys but the constructor got a new permit and added a few more and built an adjacent building whose foundation was not connected to the old one," Mortazavi said.
Five people have so far been arrested, including the engineers overseeing the construction, the contractor and the builder. Mortazavi said the culprits should expect a harsh punishment.
There has long been considerable concern in Tehran about the strength of the apartment blocks that have sprung up in huge numbers in all areas of the capital in recent years to cope with its dramatic population explosion.
Building standards are not always rigorously adhered as developers bid to achieve a maximum yield from new constructions in the shortest possible time.
The concern is particularly great as the densely-populated Iranian capital sits on a major earthquake fault and a major tremor could wreak unprecedented devastation and cause great loss of life.
