#plasco

Deadly Fire destroys high-rise building Tehran, Iran

A high-rise building in Tehran engulfed by a fire collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 30 firefighters and injuring some 75 people, state media reported.

The disaster struck the Plasco building, an iconic structure in central Tehran just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar.

Iran's state-run Press TV announced the firefighters' deaths, without giving a source for the information. Local Iranian state television said 30 civilians were injured in the disaster, while the state-run IRNA news agency said 45 firefighters had been injured.

Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the collapse. Police tried to keep out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables. However, witnesses said some people had slipped through and gone back in.

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 after the collapse. Onlookers wailed in grief. (AP)

Photos: (from top) Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS, AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, STR/AFP/Getty Images, AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS