A City Council Member: The Situation of Three Major Hospitals in Tehran is Critical

The head of the Safety Committee of the Islamic City Council of Tehran stated that the buildings of three hospitals in the capital (Bouali, Sina, and Khomeini) are in a critical fire safety condition and are on the list of 129 unsafe buildings, with no actions taken for safety improvements. According to reports, Mehdi Babaei mentioned that the safety upgrades for six other hospitals are also on the agenda. Babaei noted that Bouali, Khomeini, and Sina hospitals have not taken any operational actions towards safety improvements, and their situation is critical. Previously, Tehran's fire department announced that there are 33,000 unsafe buildings in Tehran, with about 71 buildings in a critical state. In July of this year, the fire department emphasized that more than eight hospitals require serious attention. Mehdi Bostanchi, a board member of the Fire Safety and Engineering Association of Tehran Province, also stated in May of this year that 'there are 134,000 unsafe buildings across the country.' Eight hospitals, including 'Hazrat Rasoul Akram, Imam Hospital, Loulagar, Tarafeh, Sina, Bouali, Shahid Yafteh Abad, and Fayyaz Bakhsh,' have been identified as unsafe buildings. The newspaper 'Donya-e-Eqtesad' reported in August this year, quoting Amir Saki, the director general of physical resources at the Ministry of Health, about the dilapidated state of hospitals, stating that in the 80s, an earthquake assessment of the country's hospitals was conducted, revealing that about 70% of medical buildings or hospitals are dilapidated. According to this newspaper, this percentage in Tehran is over 80% due to the age of the hospitals. The results of this assessment also indicated that over 90% of dilapidated hospitals cannot be retrofitted, meaning their retrofitting is not justifiable. Reports from well-known shopping centers also mentioned the Aluminum Passage, Aladdin Passage, Mahestan Passage, Azad Passage, and Champs-Élysées Passage as high-risk and critical buildings. These incidents and various lists of unsafe, high-risk, and very high-risk buildings in Tehran come at a time when Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, denied the existence of such a list, stating, 'We only have the duty of identification.' High-risk and unsafe buildings are divided into two categories: old and new. Old buildings require renovation or closure due to their age and the lack of many safety principles and tools at the time of construction. In new buildings, the only unsafe factor is the municipality's approach to issuing permits, oversight, and reducing the law to receiving fines for violations. A girls' dormitory in Saadat Abad, Tehran burned down in a fire. A fire in another hospital in Iran; safety warnings that continue to be ignored. The fire department: Tehran has 18,000 'high-risk buildings.' Danger lurks in the healthcare centers of the Iranian capital; 40 hospitals in District 6 of Tehran have been warned. From Plasco to Gandhi Hospital; buildings in Iran remain unsafe and high-risk.