Thick black smoke over Andisheh, west of Tehran, was the first thing viewers saw when Iranian state television cut to the Arghavan commercial complex on Tuesday. Behind it stood a multi-storey building well alight. The first count was eight dead and 41 injured. By the next day Euronews, again citing state media, put the dead at 11.
The injury figure moved too. Middle East Eye, quoting Iranian media, gave “at least eight people were killed and 36 were injured”. State television, as relayed by Roya News, said 41 people were hurt.
Arghavan was a big place. Local officials said it held more than 250 commercial units and 50 office units, which is a lot of people and a lot of stock under one roof.
Cladding under suspicion
The Iranian newspaper Mizan pointed to “flammable exterior cladding” as the cause of the blaze. Euronews quoted experts who blamed the building’s composite facade, a material they said had already been flagged as a fire hazard in earlier incidents. That would explain how fast the flames travelled.
The authorities moved quickly on the question of blame. Shahriar’s Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office called for an investigation to identify possible culprits and issued an arrest warrant for the building’s constructor. State broadcaster IRIB went further and reported an order for “the identification and arrest of those responsible, including the property developer”.
A grim local precedent
Fires are common in Iran, Roya News noted, but they rarely kill people. This one did, and on a scale Iranians will recognise. In January 2017 a fire at the 15-storey Plasco shopping centre in Tehran killed at least 22 people, 16 of them firefighters. In June 2020 gas canisters caught fire at a clinic in northern Tehran, and the explosion killed at least 19.
No official has yet said what finally started the Andisheh fire. The prosecutors’ warrant makes clear where they expect to find answers.
Sources
- Fire at commercial complex near Tehran kills 11 and injures dozens
- Eight killed, dozens injured in Iran shopping centre fire
- Fire at Iran commercial complex kills 8, injures dozens: state media
Sources
- Fire at Iran commercial complex kills 8, injures dozens: state media
- Urgent: Fire at Iran commercial complex kills 8: state media-Xinhua
