5 dead, scores trapped after 10-storey building collapses in Iran

Five people were killed and at least 80 others were left after a 10-storey building collapsed in Iran’s southern city of Abadan on Monday.

Rescue crews work at the site of a ten-storey building collapse in Abadan, Iran (Reuters photo)

Five people were killed when a 10-storey building in Iran’s southern city of Abadan partly collapsed and rescuers were trying to help at least 80 people left trapped under the rubble, Iranian state TV reported on Monday.

The semi-official Mehr news agency identified the building as a residential-commercial property on Amir Kabir street in the city, which is close to the border with Iraq.

Iranians gather at the site of a ten-storey building collapse in Abadan (Reuters photo)

State TV said 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. It showed footage of angry Abadan residents shouting slogans against the city authorities.

General view at the site of a ten-storey building collapse in Abadan, Iran (Reuters photo)

The head of Khuzestan province’s judiciary has ordered an investigation into the building’s collapse, and its owner and the contractor who built it have been arrested, state TV said.

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