A meeting of mourning families for victims who died in the collapse of a new building in Abdan in southwestern Iran turned into anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday evening. The protesters demanded the resignation of government officials responsible for the tragedy
Authorities in Iran tried to prevent a demonstration against the regime after the collapse of a 10-story building, disrupting the Internet in the city of Abadan on Wednesday night to prevent uploading photos and videos of the demonstrations to social media, but some videos found their way to social media. The videos show hundreds of residents gathered to mourn the victims of the collapse of some of the ten-story metropolitan twin towers last Monday, shouting slogans against corrupt officials.
Local residents held traditional mourning ceremonies in the streets, with the collapse perceived by the public as a result of negligence on the part of building owners close to authorities, according to protesters the owners disobeyed laws and regulations, in violation of building laws.
Demonstrators chanted some of the popular slogans in other anti-government demonstrations, including “clerics must be lost,” “our enemy here, it’s a lie to say it’s America,” “not Gaza, not Lebanon, I will sacrifice my life for Iran,” and “Come up Abadan, Your brothers were killed “and” shame on our shameless authorities “. Protesters in Abadan also demanded the resignation of local government officials responsible for the tragedy. This was reported by the television channel Iran International.
Photo: Iran International.
The protesters were outraged at the failed management of the state and the deep corruption that allowed the building owner to evade building safety regulations through his seemingly close ties with powerful elements. They also accuse the authorities of mismanaging the rescue operations and allegedly assisting the owner, Hussein Abdulbagi, to escape. Many are also angry that in his meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did not comfort the families of the victims or mention the tragedy.
The second tower of the building could also collapse every minute as rescue operations continued. Abadan’s governor, Ahsan Abbaspur, said on Thursday that more bodies had been recovered from the rubble, bringing the death toll to 19. So far, he said, 37 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the building. Construction on the building has not been completed, but the commercial units on the lower floors of the building, including a cafe run by a young couple, have already opened their businesses. The couple were pulled dead from their cafe by rescue forces.
Khuzestan Governor Sadj Khalilian said the owner had permission to build only six floors, but later agreed to add four more floors.