Iran releases report on January building fire and collapse

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency is reporting that the primary cause of the deadly collapse of a burning building in the Iranian capital in January was “unauthorized and non-standard wiring.”

An investigative commission released the report during an open session of parliament Wednesday. It detailed the reasons Plasco, a high-rise building in Tehran, became engulfed in flames in January, killing 26 people, including 16 firefighters. More than 230 were injured.

The report said the building’s electrical and heating systems and fire safety regulations were not up to standard and contributed to the building fire and collapse.

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