Metropole Tower collapse: Ten dead, dozens missing, and security situation in Abadan

The rubble-clearing operation on Amiri Street in Abadan continues, and the fate of dozens of people is unknown. The Khuzestan Justice Department announced the arrest of 8 people involved in the construction of the building. The atmosphere in the city is tense, and people have beaten the mayor.

The search and rescue operation in the collapsed Metropole Tower is underway, and the CEO of the Khuzestan Red Crescent reports that the bodies of three more people have been found on the first floor of the building. On Tuesday morning, June 23, the death toll was announced at ten and the number of injured at 35. Dozens of people, including construction workers, are still trapped under the rubble.

At the same time, while the city's security situation is tense, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, along with Mohsen Rezaei, Ebrahim Raisi's economic deputy, arrived in Abadan to visit the site.

Shortly after the incident, angry Abadan residents beat up Mayor Hassan Hamidpour, who had issued a permit for the Metropole Twin Tower despite all the problems. Citizens blame a group of provincial and government officials for the collapse of the building and have chanted slogans against them.

Abadan's special governor, Ehsan Abbaspour, has warned that the structure could collapse completely. He said in a television interview that the building was under construction, but many social media users have asked how 10 shops on the ground floor were still operating and who had issued the permits for them to operate.

According to Ali Dehghani, the Chief Justice of Khuzestan, eight people have been arrested and summoned, including the owner and contractor, project supervisors, and Abadan municipality forces.

Local activists, however, have announced on social media that Hussein Abdul Baqi, the owner and builder of these towers, has fled and that rescue and debris removal operations are progressing slowly due to technical deficiencies.

ISNA news agency wrote after the collapse of part of the Metropole Tower: "The Metropole Twin Towers complex was so weak that the main pillar and support of the complexes had sunk and buckled. Images and videos published on social media also showed this. The owner had erected scaffolding around the project, which some claim was created with the aim of concealing the project's dire condition."

Source: DW