Plasco Building collapses after massive blaze

TEHRAN — Plasco building, a shopping center in downtown Tehran, collapsed at Thursday noon after a huge blaze, leaving dozens injured, missing, and dead. The 17-storey building turned into piles of rubble within seconds after fighting the blaze for more than three hours. Flames of fire which seemed to be under control at the beginning eventually led to the building’s sudden collapse and unfortunately a number of firefighters, salespersons and other people got trapped in the rubble. Plasco is a commercial building survived from 1960s with some 600 shopping centers and clothing workshops filled with stacks of clothes which are believed to intensify the fire. Photo: Tehran Times/ Asghar Khamseh, Majid Haghdoust, Mohammad Mohsenifar