Number of victims of Metropol in Abadan increases to "14 people"; building owner "died" in the incident

After contradictory news was published about the arrest of the owner of the Metropole Tower in Abadan, Iranian news agencies reported, citing the Khuzestan Public Prosecutor, that he died in the building collapse.

Parts of this large tower, which was under construction, suddenly collapsed on June 2nd.

According to Sadeq Jafari Chegni, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of the capital of Khuzestan province, Hossein Abdolbaqi, the owner of the building, "was present at the scene during the collapse of the building and lost his life during the incident."

This is despite the fact that hours after the incident on Monday, Iranian news agencies, including the official Islamic Republic News Agency, had announced the arrest of Mr. Abdolbaqi on the orders of the Special Prosecutor.

This has fueled speculation on social media, including Twitter, that the news of the building owner's death is a lie.

According to Mr. Jafari Chegni, the identity papers of Hussein Abdul Baqi were found "in the clothing of one of the victims of the incident, which was unrecognizable," and thus "his identity was confirmed."

Meanwhile, Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, announced on Tuesday evening: "So far, we have a total of 14 deaths, 32 injuries, 29 of whom have been discharged, and three others are still in hospitals."

In response to a question about how long the debris removal will take, he said: "It is not possible to specify the exact time for debris removal now because the operation must be carried out with sensitivity and precision, and the collapse of unstable structures is one of the dangers in the region."

It is not yet clear how many people are trapped under the rubble.

Mohammad Hossein Nami, head of the country's Crisis Management Organization, said in this regard: "We cannot yet announce highly accurate statistics because no one has them. We suspect that some people are trapped in the Metropol basement and we are trying to reach the basement as soon as possible."

This is despite the fact that the head of the Red Crescent Society's relief and rescue organization had previously told the Jam Jam newspaper that the relief and rescue operations on the floors of the Metropol building had ended, but search and rescue operations by the Red Crescent's relief and operational forces were continuing in the basement.

ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday afternoon that "50 people" were still trapped under the rubble of the building.

Currently, all provincial and national officials, from the Attorney General to members of parliament, have promised to deal with the "responsible" for the incident.

According to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Khuzestan Province, “So far, ten of the main factors… in the implementation of the project… have been arrested. Including the current mayor of Abadan and former mayors of Abadan. Also, a number of municipal personnel and supervisors who supervised the implementation of this project have been arrested as violators and factors involved in the incident.”

But the arrow of protest and criticism following the collapse of the building in Abadan is aimed at Mr. Abdul Baqi, who is said to have continued construction despite warnings, especially from the engineering organization responsible for the construction of the building.

In this regard, on Tuesday, a copy of the building's supervising engineer's report dated January 2020 was published on Twitter, indicating the supervising engineer's order to "stop work" until the defects are addressed.

However, critics say that construction of the building has continued regardless of such flaws.

An official report on the cause of the accident has not yet been published, but the head of the Engineering System Organization has attributed the cause of the accident to the municipality's disregard for the report of the supervising engineers and the illegal construction of the top three floors of the tower.

ISNA News Agency wrote in this regard: "The failure to obtain certain permits, the fragility of the building, and the lack of precise engineering of this tower are the three main factors behind this incident, which once again points the blame at inefficient managers and managers who are fugitives from the law."

On Tuesday, it was also reported that Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezaei, Ebrahim Raisi's deputy for economic affairs, had arrived at the Metropol building in Abadan and held a crisis committee meeting there.

Source: Radio Farda