According to Maleki, the total number of martyred firefighters has increaded to 16.

He added that the bodies of 15 firefighters and four citizens had already been recovered in total from debris of the 54-year-old building which was once the first high-rise structure of the Iranian capital in 1960s, after one week of intensive search operations.

One firefighter also died in hospital in the early days of the tragic incident due to severe injuries caused by the fatal fire.

Plasco Trade Center, the 17-storey building collapsed on January 19 due to huge fire which had started from its 9th floor. A number of firefighters was inside the building to rescue those trapped in the inferno at time of its collapse.

Source: irna.ir