By Euronews Persian with AFP
Published on
A fire ripped through a commercial complex near Iran’s capital Tehran, killing at least 11 people and leaving dozens more wounded, state media reported on Wednesday.
The blaze erupted on Tuesday in Arghavan commercial complex in the city of Andisheh, west of Tehran.
Footage broadcast by state-run television showed a multi-storey building on fire with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
According to an earlier report, the fire injured 41 people.
The complex had more than 250 commercial units and 50 office units, according to local officials.
The Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Shahriar called for an investigation into the incident to identify possible culprits.
It also issued an arrest warrant for the building’s constructor.
Preliminary reports indicate that the building’s composite facade played a significant role in the rapid spread of the fire, a hazard experts have repeatedly warned about following similar incidents in the past.
In June 2020, a powerful explosion caused by gas canisters that caught fire at a clinic in northern Tehran killed at least 19 people.
In January 2017, a fire at the 15-storey Plasco shopping centre in Tehran killed at least 22 people, including 16 firefighters.