Efforts Continue for Debris Removal at Plasco Building; "No Bodies Have Been Recovered from the Rubble Yet"

Reports indicate that in the early hours of Friday, rescue efforts continued to save firefighters and others who are believed to be alive under the rubble of the Plasco building. Reports suggest that as of Friday morning, work on clearing debris and rubble from the lower floors was ongoing. A judicial official stated at 3:30 AM on Friday that "no bodies have been recovered from the rubble yet." The Plasco building caught fire around 7:30 AM on Thursday. Although initial reports indicated that the fire was under control, eventually the upper floors caught fire, leading to the collapse of the 17-story building. Initial reports indicate that 84 people were injured in the Plasco incident, of which 33 were hospitalized. However, the mayor of Tehran previously reported the deaths of 20 firefighters. Jalal Maleki, spokesperson for the Fire Department, also stated that 20 of their colleagues lost their lives in the effort to rescue people. He emphasized that it is still "too early to provide definitive statistics." According to IRIB News Agency, Jalal Maleki clarified regarding reports about some firefighters contacting from under the rubble that this matter is "unconfirmed." The spokesperson described the rescue operation as "very complex" and stated that debris removal would not be completed soon. He mentioned that they are currently facing hidden fires, and firefighting will occur wherever smoke is encountered during the cleanup and debris removal. The spokesperson urged people not to gather at the site as it remains unsafe. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, previously stated that currently 20 to 25 firefighters are trapped under the rubble, and efforts to rescue them continue. Salman Samani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, also stated that the main priority is to ascertain the status of those trapped under the rubble and to save their lives, and that debris removal operations are being conducted carefully. According to IRNA, he added, "Technical and operational measures to reach these individuals are being carried out continuously by rescue teams, and until the status of those trapped under the rubble is determined and necessary actions are taken, senior officials of the Crisis Management Organization are fully stationed at the site and are overseeing all actions." Fars News Agency reported at 3:30 AM on Friday that approximately 50 ten-ton trucks carrying cut steel related to the building's structure have been removed from the site of the collapse. Media reports have circulated regarding the survival of some individuals in the engine room or on the second basement floor, but according to officials, no one has been retrieved from under the rubble yet. Jalal Maleki, spokesperson for the Plasco Crisis Headquarters, stated in the early minutes of Friday to ISNA that search and debris removal operations are still ongoing at the site, and none of the firefighters who were reported missing have been found. The head of the criminal prosecution office also stated at 2 AM Tehran time to Fars that "no bodies have been recovered from the rubble yet." One local merchant told Fars that five workers in the engine room are trapped and it is said that "they are one meter away from reaching the ceiling of the engine room. These individuals had phone contact until an hour ago." Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, also stated on Thursday night that the cause of the fire at the Plasco building must be quickly identified and those responsible must be prosecuted. According to Tasnim, Rahmani Fazli, after visiting the site of the Plasco building incident, stated that necessary orders have been issued to identify those responsible for the incident and to prosecute them. Meanwhile, Hassan Hamdani, the security deputy of Tehran's governorate, stated regarding the cause of the fire and the collapse of the Plasco building to Tasnim that the claim that the fire's cause was security-related is completely incorrect and that this fire was entirely natural. He added that an electrical short circuit on one of the floors was the main cause of the initial fire at the Plasco building. The security deputy further stated that this building did not have gas piping, and merchants used picnic stoves or other heating equipment, and that gas leakage is not a valid reason for the fire. However, one of the shopkeepers at Plasco told Fars that "one of the shopkeepers turned on his picnic stove at 7:30 AM for breakfast and then went down to the lower floor, and due to the extinguishing of the flame and his return to his shop to turn on the shop's electricity, an explosion occurred, but since no one was in that floor at that early hour to extinguish the fire, the flames spread from shop to shop." The Plasco commercial complex, which was about half a century old, was a distribution center for clothing in Tehran and the first high-rise building in Iran five decades ago. The Plasco building was constructed by Habibollah Alqaniyan, the owner of the "Plasco" plastic manufacturing company, before the 1979 revolution in Tehran. The Alqaniyan family established several factories and shopping centers in Iran over the decades. After the revolution, the Plasco building was confiscated by the Foundation of the Oppressed, and its builder, Mr. Alqaniyan, who was also the head of the Jewish Association of Tehran, was executed during the deadly events following the revolution.