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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates , 5 Jun (AP) \u2014 The death toll in a catastrophic tower collapse in southwestern Iran rose to at least 38 on Sunday, state TV reported, as emergency workers pulled another body from the rubble amid fears still more could be trapped in the destruction.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear how many more people remain unaccounted for in the collapse of the still under-construction tower at the Metropol Building in Abadan nearly two weeks ago. R escuers were still working and families still waiting for word of their loved ones despite promises the search operation would be finished by now.<\/p>\n
The structural building failure in the oil-rich but impoverished Khuzestan province has focused public attention on shoddy construction practices and prompted mass allegations of government corruption and negligence. Authorities have arrested 13 people as part of a broad probe into the disaster, including Abadan\u2019s mayor, Hossein Hamidpour, who resigned last Friday.<\/p>\n
Protesters have gathered in mourning at the collapse site, denouncing top officials and demanding accountability, according to videos widely shared on social media and analyzed by The Associated Press. However, reporting on events in Abadan remains extremely difficult as the threat of arrest looms. Authorities have disrupted internet access, according to experts, restricting people\u2019s ability to share videos and information.<\/p>\n
In an effort to address public mistrust, President Ebrahim Raisi last Friday paid a surprise visit to Abadan, where he surveyed the disaster site and offered personal condolences to the families of victims. During his trip, businessmen lodged complaints about the scope of corruption in local government, state-run media reported.<\/p>\n
Raisi vowed the government would \u201cnot hesitate to deal with the offenders\u201d and would \u201cmonitor construction more closely, especially high-rise buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe perpetrators should know that the passage of time will not absolve them of responsibility and accountability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also touched on events in Abadan during his live televised speech on Saturday \u2014 providing further indication of their seriousness.<\/p>\n
In his first speech outside his residence since the pandemic struck Iran, Khamenei warned of severe consequences for those who violated regulations and may have helped cause the disaster in Abadan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose responsible must be brought to justice, their punishment should serve as a lesson for others, and similar incidents in future should be avoided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Khamenei also blamed the recent outbreak of protests in the restive Khuzestan province on Iran\u2019s \u201cenemies,\u201d including \u201ctreacherous Iranians\u201d abroad, who he said try to harm the country\u2019s interest through \u201cpsychological warfare and online campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reza Pahlavi, in exile in the U.S., the eldest son of Iran\u2019s deposed monarch before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, last week seized on reports of growing anger in Abadan to call for the creation of a \u201cunified front against the Islamic Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates , 5 Jun (AP) \u2014 The death toll in a catastrophic tower collapse in southwestern Iran rose to at least 38 on Sunday, state TV reported, as emergency workers pulled another body from the rubble amid fears still more could be trapped in the destruction. It\u2019s unclear how many more people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-192307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}