Iranian rescuers have removed three bodies from the rubble of
a high-rise building in Tehran that collapsed after a fire, a fire department
spokesman said on Saturday, as hopes of finding
survivors trapped beneath the
shopping mall were fading.
"Because of rekindling fires and the extreme heat...,
we feel that it is unfortunately unrealistic that anyone would survive,
although our hope is that some may come out alive," fire department
spokesman Jalal Maleki told state television.
The television quoted Maleki as saying EQUIPMENT used to
locate survivors had not given any indications on the third day of rescue
efforts. "The total number of those under the rubble, including the
firemen, is a maximum of 25," Maleki said. "So far, three bodies have
been brought out."
Iran's TOP emergency response official put the number of
people buried in the building collapse at up to 30, many of them firefighters.
"Based on the available indications, the number of
people under the rubble are between 25 and 30," Esmail Najjar, head of the
National Disaster Management Organization, told the state news agency IRNA.
Officials had said on Friday that 25 people were still
unaccounted for after the collapse of the 17-storey building on Thursday, in
addition to 20 firefighters who were feared dead in the blaze.
At least two of the recovered bodies belonged to firemen and
a third injured fireman had died in hospital, state TV reported.
"This is a lesson and a warning for all officials over
the security of the lives of citizens, which is a civil right," President
Hassan Rouhani told state TV during a visit to the site of the building on
Saturday, declared a day of national mourning.
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi visited the site of the
building and said there were "no indications pointing to sabotage",
the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
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