At least four dead in building collapse in Iran

Four Iranians including two police officers have been killed and at least 11 other people injured when several buildings collapsed in the capital Tehran, local media reported Monday.

The policemen were securing the planned demolition on Sunday of "unauthorised buildings" in the city's southwest, ISNA news agency said that day, reporting at least three deaths in the incident.

Tasnim news agency on Monday said "four people including two policemen and two civilians died following the collapse of unauthorised buildings in the southwest of Tehran."

Rescue operations were underway to find others who may be trapped under the rubble, ISNA and Tasnim reported.

According to ISNA, authorities had begun the demolition of one building when five others collapsed.

The report quoted a police statement saying the buildings which collapsed did not comply "with construction safety measures".

A Tehran city official said on Saturday that authorities had demolished more than 46,000 unauthorised buildings over the past two years, according to municipality newspaper Hamshahri.

In May 2022, a building collapse in Iran's southwest killed 43 people, in one the country's deadliest such incidents.

The collapse of the 10-storey Metropol building, which had been under construction in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan province, sparked protests across the country decrying corruption and incompetent authorities.