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Iran recovers more bodies from building fire, collapse

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A firefighter looks at his colleagues while they work during the operation to remove debris from the Plasco building, which collapsed after being engulfed by a fire on Thursday, in central Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Rescue teams are trying to reach missing firefighters, victims and looking for survivors believed to be under the rubble of the Plasco high-rise commercial building. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian search teams on Wednesday recovered eight more bodies from the site of last week’s deadly collapse of a burning building in downtown Tehran, bringing the known death toll to 15, including 11 firefighters, state media reported.

The historic 17-story Plasco building caught fire and collapsed on Thursday. Authorities said they had repeatedly warned tenants about blocking stairwells with fabric from cramped garment workshops on the upper levels.

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli was quoted by state media on Wednesday as saying that “all indications” show the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.

State media initially reported that 30 firefighters were killed in the collapse, but officials have not given a precise casualty toll. At least five firefighters are still missing and presumed dead.

State media said more than 200 people were wounded, but only three were hospitalized.

The fire and subsequent collapse was the worst such disaster in Tehran since 2005, when a blaze at a historic mosque killed 59 people.

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