Tehran High-Rise Inferno Losses Exceed $390m

EghtesadOnline: Losses caused by the recent inferno in a Tehran high-rise and its subsequent collapse are estimated at 15 trillion rials (over $390 million), said the head of Iran Chamber of Guilds, Ali Fazeli.

News ID: ۷۷۳۳۵۰

21 January 2017

"Unfortunately, the majority of the units was not insured," he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Plasco, a 17-floor commercial high-rise in downtown Tehran with close to 600 production units and sales outlets producing apparel, shoes and sportswear, caught fire on Thursday morning and collapsed at around 11:30 a.m. The exact number of casualties has yet to be officially released.

Mehdi Ravanshadnia, an official with Tehran Construction Engineering Organization, said the tragedy has caused some 6 trillion rials ($156.9 million) in property damage alone, Financial Tribune reported.

The tower was built in the early 1960s by the Iranian-Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian and named after his plastics manufacturing company. It was the first high-rise built in the city.

The tower is attached to a multistory shopping mall and is located just north of the city’s sprawling Grand Bazaar.