Dozens Of Firefighters Killed After Tower Collapses İn Tehran

At least 30 firefighters dead and scores of people injured, Iranian state media says, after blaze engulfed famous Plasco building

A high-rise Tehran building engulfed by a fire has collapsed, killing at least 30 firefighters and injuring 75 other people, according to state media reports.

Firefighters had been battling the blaze at the Plasco building, a landmark structure in the centre of the Iranian capital, for several hours when it collapsed.

Press TV announced the firefighters' deaths, without giving a source for the information.

State television said 30 civilians were injured in the disaster, while the state-run IRNA news agency said 45 firefighters had been hurt.

Police had been trying to keep out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables.

The building came down within 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.

The Turkish Embassy in Tehran was evacuated before the collapse of a high-rise building in the Iranian capital on Jan. 19, according to embassy officials.

The embassy building located near the site of the collapse has not taken damage.

A high-rise building in Tehran collapsed after it was engulfed by a fire on Jan. 19, killing at least 30 firefighters and injuring some 75 people, state media reported.

The disaster struck the Plasco building, an iconic structure in central Tehran just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar.