Black flags flew outside the Grand Mosalla Mosque, while high-ranking officials including Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and cabinet ministers and lawmakers joined the emotional funeral procession.

A procession carried the bodies to the capital’s Behesht-e-Zahra Cemetery, where they were laid to rest. Tehran temporary Friday Prayer leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, performed the funeral prayer for the victims.

The 17-story Plasco building, home to a shopping center and hundreds of clothing suppliers, collapsed on Jan. 19 while emergency services were still evacuating people from a huge fire.

It was Tehran’s tallest building when it was completed in 1962.

Despite immediate dispatch of firefighting teams to the premises, the fire raged on for several hours before the structure collapsed, caving in on the firefighters and a number of citizens.

Interior Minister Abdol-Reza Rahmani Fazli said last week that an electrical short circuit was the main cause of the incident.

The bodies of four civilians have also been pulled from the debris, and six more are missing.

The 16 firefighters were buried in the martyrs’ section of the Tehran cemetery.

“We are very thankful for people’s sympathy. We will continue to serve them,” said Mohammad Reza Hamedifar, a firefighter for 22 years.

One tearful onlooker, 27-year-old Tahereh Sheydaei, said: “They gave their lives for us. We see it as our duty to attend.”

On Sunday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a message, eulogizing the firefighters.

The disaster sent a shockwave across Iran, topping the news agenda for a week as rescue teams worked round the clock to recover bodies from the rubble.

The owners and city officials have been criticized for failing to prevent the disaster at the building, which, according to the fire brigade, was known to have breached multiple safety regulations.

Tehran’s Fire Department said on the day of the collapse that the Plasco building’s managers had been warned that it was unsafe, with corridors and staircases blocked by goods and no fire extinguishers.

“I hope people’s support will have a positive impact on their wages, working conditions, equipment and low budget,” said Siavash Khazei, 33, a restaurant manager attending the ceremony with his mother.

The disaster was the deadliest in Tehran since 2005, when a fire at a crowded mosque in the city centre killed 59 people.

Plasco Tower

Plasco tower, the 17-story structure crumbled after fire engulfed the top floors of the building in downtown Tehran on Thursday 19 January 2017 morning  as scores of firefighters battled the blaze.

At the time of its construction in the 1960s it was the tallest building in Iran, and was considered an iconic landmark of the Tehran skyline. The building collapsed on during a fire.
The Plasco building was built in 1962, during a decade of rapid growth in Iran. The building was named after his plastics company.

Photo: Tehran’s Plasco tower collapsed after burning+Video

The post Photo: Funeral ceremony of martyred firefighters of Tehran appeared first on IRAN This Way.

Regarding Tehran Plasco tower blaze at least 25 firefighters are under the debris. Up Saturday noon 3 firefighters’ body recovered.

Plasco tower, the 17-story structure crumbled after fire engulfed the top floors of the building in downtown Tehran on Thursday morning as scores of firefighters battled the blaze.

The post Photo: Tribute to Iranian martyred firefighters appeared first on IRAN This Way.

Plasco tower, the 17-story structure crumbled after fire engulfed the top floors of the building in downtown Tehran on Thursday morning as scores of firefighters battled the blaze.

An official was quoted as saying that between 50 to 100 people are believed to have been trapped under the rubble.

Reports earlier suggested that the 30 firefighters had been killed in the accident.

Earlier, authorities told IRNA just after the collapse that at least 38 people had been injured at the Plasco building, an iconic structure in central Tehran just north of the capital’s sprawling bazaar.

Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the collapse as police kept out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables.

The building came down in a matter of seconds, shown live on state television, which had begun an interview with a journalist at the scene. A side of the building came down first, tumbling perilously close to a firefighter perched on a ladder and spraying water on the blaze.

A thick plume of brown smoke rose over the site. Onlookers wailed in grief.

he Plasco building was an iconic presence on the Tehran skyline.

The Plasco tower was built in the early 1960s. It was the tallest building in the city at the time of its construction.

Video: Plasco tower collapse after blaze

President Rouhani:
Firefighters incite in nation ‘admiration, sorrow’

Iran’s Hassan Rouhani’s message on Plasco event has said firefighters epic conduct during rescue operations garnered admiration and sorrow at the same time.

Mr. Rouhani’s message also offered condolences to the families of victims during Plasco building collapse after fire consumed parts of the building on Thursday morning; “firefighters had acted extraordinarily in an epic setting to save their fellow compatriots; their response to call of the duty incites national admiration as well as sorrow for their sad end; I express gratitude for all firefighting staff, paramedics, police and other military units acting on the site to handle the situation, and equally sympathize with the families of victims of the event in their grieving in the loss of their loved ones,” the statement said.

The message also called for collective action to pray for the soul of the victims on the night of the event to pay tribute to all those killed and missing.

The post Photo: Tehran’s Plasco tower collapsed after burning+Video appeared first on IRAN This Way.