
Thirty firefighters have been killed after Iran's oldest high-rise collapsed following a fire.

State television said 200 firefighters had been called to the scene at the 15-storey Plasco building in downtown Tehran and 'tens' were trapped inside when the building collapsed.

At least 75 people, including 45 firefighters, were injured when the building came crashing down in a giant cloud of dust during a live TV broadcast.

Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said there were about 25 firefighters trapped under rubble.

Troops have been sent to help dig through the ruins.

The 15-storey building, the first high-rise in Tehran, collapsed after a fire ripped through it this morning

Local Iranian state television said 30 firefighters were injured in the disaster in Tehran this morning

The building came down in a matter of seconds, shown live on state television, which had started showing an interview with a journalist at the scene

A firefighter cries as the building - with his colleagues trapped inside - collapses to the ground

The steel skeleton of the building could be seen bending down to the ground as around 100 fire engines and dozens of ambulances surrounded the area

Dozens of firefighters were trapped inside the building as it collapsed to the ground four hours after the fire started

Firefighters tend to a comrade as they battle a blaze that engulfed Iran's oldest high-rise

The firefighter cries in pain after hours of battling the blazing fire in downtown Tehran

Dramatic images showed flames pouring out of the top floors of the building, which dated from the early 1960s and included a shopping centre and clothing workshops.

Sniffer dogs searched for signs of survivors buried under giant slabs of concrete and heaps of twisted metal. The rescue operation could last more than two days, state TV said.

'The building's caretaker and some firefighters were inside when the building collapsed,' said Ahmad, a shop owner in the building.

'I've lost my entire stock. Thousands of families have been ruined,' he added.

'A friend of mine has a shop there. I keep calling him but there's no answer. I think he's been trapped,' Mohsen, an onlooker told AFP.

One of the first firefighters to be reached shouted 'leave me alone, let me go back inside and save my trapped colleagues' as he was brought out, Tasnim reported.

The owner of a nearby grocery store, forced by police to leave the area, said 'it was like a horror movie. The building collapsed in front of me.'

Most of the injured were taken to hospital and many were quickly discharged, state TV said.

The steel skeleton of the building could be seen crashing down to the ground as around 100 fire engines and dozens of ambulances surrounded the area.

The building came down in a matter of 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.

A thick plume of brown smoke billowed out the building as firefighters tried to tackle the blaze

Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the collapse this morning, that left 30 firefighters dead

Iranian fire fighters run as the iconic Plasco building collapses after a fire in downtown Tehran

Police evacuated the area around the building, fearing secondary explosions caused by gas leaks, and worked to clear crowds that were blocking access for rescue services.

Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedinia said: 'There a number of people inside but we don't know how many and the fire brigade organisation is going to announce how many were there. Even one would be too many.'

Fire brigade spokesman Jalal Malekias said: 'We had repeatedly warned the building managers about the lack of safety of the building.'

He added that the 15-storey building lacked fire extinguishers.

The building had reportedly caught fire in the past.

'Even in the stairwells, a lot of clothing is stored and this is against safety standards. The managers didn't pay attention to the warnings,' he explained.

Police worked to clear crowds that were blocking access for rescue services as the building collapsed in Tehran

Firefighters work through the smoke as they tried to tackle the blaze at the burning building

The fire started around 8am (0430 GMT) local time when the majority of shopkeepers were not inside the building.

Firefighters were initially able to bring it under control but it quickly flared up and the building fell four hours after the fire had started, at around 11:30 am (0800 GMT).

The blaze is thought to have begun on the ninth floor and spread quickly to workshops above.

An electrical short circuit caused the fire, Tasnim said, citing an official in the Tehran governor's office.

The Plasco building was the first high-rise and shopping centre in Tehran and was the city's tallest building when it was finished in 1962, before being dwarfed by the more recent construction boom.

It was built by Habibollah Elghanian, a prominent Iranian-Jewish businessman who was arrested for ties to Israel and sentenced to death and executed after the 1979 Islamic revolution.