The Death Toll from the Building Collapse in Tehran Reaches Four, Two Victims Were Police Officers

Domestic media reported on Sunday evening, August 6, the simultaneous collapse of five buildings in southern Tehran during the "crackdown on illegal construction" initiative, stating that several municipal and police personnel lost their lives in this incident. The state news agency IRNA quoted Ali Salehi, Tehran's prosecutor, explaining that "police and municipal officials were present in the Khalazir area of southern Tehran from early Sunday morning to demolish illegal and unsafe structures when one of the buildings collapsed, followed by four others, trapping several police and municipal personnel under the rubble." Jalaal Maleki, spokesperson for Tehran's Fire Department, also told the media: "In this incident, four people were killed, and five were rescued from under the rubble, and they are in good condition." The Tehran police's information center announced that four police personnel and two municipal staff were trapped under the rubble of a building, with two of the deceased being Yazdan Soleiman Abadi, head of the 10th Security Police Station of Greater Tehran, and Hossein Esmaeili, a member of the same station. Furthermore, the deputy public relations officer of the Emergency Organization reported that the number of injured in this incident was "11 people," stating that eight of these injured were sent to medical centers, and three were treated on-site. Alireza Nadali, spokesperson for the Tehran City Council, explained to the Fars news agency the reason for the building collapse in southern Tehran: "Municipal forces went to the area to demolish illegal buildings, but the unsafe condition of the buildings led to the collapse, trapping people under the rubble." Mehdi Babaei, head of the Safety and Crisis Committee of the Tehran City Council, had stated on Friday, June 16, to the ILNA news agency that there are about 11,000 hazardous buildings in Tehran. The state news agency IRNA reported last June that in the metropolis of Tehran, there are "33,000 unsafe buildings and over 23,000 low-risk buildings," of which the safety status of 129 buildings is "critical" and 3,488 buildings are "hazardous."