A historic high-rise in the heart of Tehran caught fire and collapsed Thursday in a giant cloud of smoke, killing dozens of firefighters who were battling the blaze, Iranian news media reported.

At least 50 firefighters were killed in the collapse of the 17-story Plasco Building, a symbol of modernity that was constructed in the early 1960s, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said.

Local news media quoted emergency operations officials as saying at least 70 people were believed trapped under the wreckage. More than two dozen had been hospitalized.

Rescue dogs were helping the hunt for survivors as police cordoned off several blocks in an area populated with embassies just north of the capital’s main bazaar.


President Hassan Rouhani issued a statement asking the Interior Ministry to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out on the top floors shortly after 8 a.m. while garment merchants were doing business and tour guides were leading visitors through the building.

1 / 24 Iranian firefighters remove debris of the Plasco building, which was engulfed by a fire and collapsed in central Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press) 2 / 24 An Iranian firefighter works at the scene of the Plasco building, which was engulfed by a fire and collapsed in Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press) 3 / 24 Iranian firefighters remove debris of the Plasco building, which was engulfed by a fire and collapsed in Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press) 4 / 24 Rescue workers and firefighters work at the site of the collapsed Plasco building in Tehran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 5 / 24 Emergency personnel search for victims in the wreckage of the 15-storey Plasco building in Tehran. (Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 24 Rescue workers help an injured man in front of the collapsed Plasco building in Tehran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 7 / 24 Rescue workers and firefighters work at the site of the collapsed Plasco building in Tehran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 8 / 24 Iranian firefighters remove debris of the Plasco building, which was engulfed by a fire and collapsed in Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press) 9 / 24 Iranian firefighters remove debris of the Plasco building, which was engulfed by a fire and collapsed in Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press) 10 / 24 Smoke rises from the mangled remains of a historic high-rise that collapsed in a fire in Iran’s capital Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press) 11 / 24 Iranian firefighters attempt to control the fire at the Plasco Building in Tehran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 12 / 24 Iranian firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire on the top floors of the Plasco Building in central Tehran. (Vahid Salemi / Associated Press) 13 / 24 A rescue worker searches for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed iconic Plasco Building in Tehran, Iran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 14 / 24 Rescue workers gather in the rubble of the collapsed iconic Plasco Building in Tehran, Iran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 15 / 24 Iranian firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire at the Plasco Building in central Tehran. (Vahid Salemi / Associated Press) 16 / 24 Iranian firefighters work at the scene of the iconic Plasco Building that collapsed after being engulfed by a fire, in Tehran, Iran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Assoicuated Press) 17 / 24 Iranian firefighters look for survivors in the rubble of Tehran’s historic Plasco Building after it collapsed in a fire. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Assoicuated Press) 18 / 24 Iranian firefighters work at the scene of the collapsed Plasco Building in Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Assoicuated Press) 19 / 24 Flames and smoke billow from the top floors of Tehran’s historic Plasco Building before it collapsed. (AFP / Getty Images) 20 / 24 Firefighters battle the blaze at the Plasco building in downtown Tehran. (AFP/Getty Images) 21 / 24 Firefighters tend to an injured colleague at the Plasco building in downtown Tehran. (AFP/Getty Images) 22 / 24 Rescue workers gather in front of the collapsed Plasco building in Tehran. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA) 23 / 24 In an image made from video, the Plasco building collapses after being engulfed in flames. (Associated Press) 24 / 24 Iranians watch the Plasco building engulfed by flames in central Tehran. (Vahid Salemi / AP)

Videos on television and social media captured the shock of Iranians at the scene, some bursting into tears, others holding their heads.

“This landmark of modernity is gone,” said Siavash Ramesh, a tour guide who was working in the building Thursday morning.


The building was a familiar and beloved part of the low-slung capital’s scattered skyline, erected during a decade of rapid economic growth under Iran’s former monarchy and attached to a large shopping mall.

A rectangular block that seemed drab by today’s standards, it was for a generation of Iranians the tallest and most magnificent high-rise in the country.

It also stood out for its builder: a Jewish plastics tycoon, Habib Elghanian, who was executed in the months after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s ruling mullahs accused Elghanian, the head of a prominent association of Jewish Iranians, of spying for Israel, and that triggered an exodus of Jews from the country.

For some Iranians, the building’s collapse was akin to losing a family member.


“Our landmark monument is gone, right before our eyes,” said Nasrin Sadvand, a Tehran resident who was near the site.

Others saw deeper meaning in the building’s collapse. Ramesh, the tour guide, recalled the story of how a political activist who opposed the ruling theocracy was allegedly dropped from the top of the building by security agents for refusing to disclose sensitive information.

“The building took revenge from the people who misused it,” Ramesh said.

Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India


ALSO

South Korean judge turns down warrant request for Samsung executive’s arrest

Attempt by Israel to bulldoze homes in Bedouin village leads to violence, two deaths

American businesses say working with China is getting harder, despite government rhetoric about free trade


UPDATES:

3:55 a.m.: Updated with Times reporting and a death toll of 50 firefighters.

2:35 a.m.: Updated with 75 injured.

1:35 a.m.: Updated with state-run media reporting 30 deaths.


12:55 a.m.: Updated with details and background on the tower.

This article was first published at 12:40 a.m.