30 firefighters killed in collapse of high-rise building in Iranian capital

Update: 10am: Thirty firefighters are reported to have been killed when a burning building in the capital of Iran collapsed.

30 firefighters killed in collapse of high-rise building in Iranian capital

Update: 10am: Thirty firefighters are reported to have been killed when a burning building in the capital of Iran collapsed.

State-run Press TV announced the deaths in the blaze at the Plasco building, a landmark structure in central Tehran, just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar, on Thursday.

It gave no source for the information.

The blaze began hours earlier but the cause was not immediately known.

The 17-storey tower was built in the early 1960s by Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian and named after his plastics manufacturing company. It was the tallest building in the city at the time of its construction.

Authorities told the state-run Irna news agency just after the collapse that at least 38 people had been injured and some were trapped in the rubble.

Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the collapse as police kept out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables.

The building came down in a matter of seconds, shown live on state television, which had begun an interview with a journalist at the scene.

A side of the building came down first, tumbling perilously close to a firefighter perched on a ladder and spraying water on the blaze.

A thick plume of brown smoke rose over the site. Onlookers wailed in grief.

Jalal Maleki, a fire department spokesman, earlier told Iranian state television that 10 fire stations had responded to the blaze, which was first reported at around 8am local time.

The Plasco building was a landmark on the Tehran skyline.

Elghanian was tried on charges that included espionage and executed in the months after the 1979 Islamic Revolution which brought the current ruling system to power - a move that prompted many members of the country's longstanding Jewish community to flee.

The tower is attached to a multi-storey shopping centre featuring a sky-lit atrium and a series of turquoise-coloured fountains.

Earlier: A high-rise building in Tehran engulfed by fire collapsed on Thursday as scores of firefighters battled the blaze.

It was not immediately known if anyone was trapped inside at the time of the collapse.

Earlier, authorities had told the state-run Irna news agency that at least 38 people were injured in the fire at the Plasco building, a landmark structure in central Tehran, just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar.

Firefighters had been battling the blaze for several hours before the collapse. It was not clear if any emergency service workers or anyone else was inside the building at the time.

Police had kept out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables.

The 17-storey building, which included a shopping centre, was built more than 50 years ago and was among the first high-rises in the city.

Jalal Maleki, a fire department spokesman, earlier told Iranian state television that 10 fire stations responded to the blaze, which was first reported at around 8am local time.

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