Iranian apartment buildings more structurally sound than World Trade Center towers

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
Dec 06 9:59 AM US/Eastern

TEHRAN, Iran - A military transport plane loaded with Iranian journalists and trying to make an emergency landing slammed into a 10-story apartment building, ripping open the top of the structure and igniting a huge fire. At least 128 people were killed. All 94 people on the plane were killed, most of them Iranian journalists heading to cover military maneuvers in the south. Thirty- four residents of the apartment building also died, and 90 were injured, Tehran state radio said.

Flames leaped out of windows, from the roof and several other floors of the building as panicked residents fled the Towhid complex, a series of high-rise apartment buildings for air force personnel in the Azadi suburb of Tehran.

Wreckage rained down, hitting a nearby gas station, police said. Cars parked below were smashed by falling debris.

At the foot of the blackened building, what appeared to be a pile of wreckage was in flames.

Firefighters managed to put out the fire in the building, which was damaged and charred but still standing. Police cordoned the building and debris field, preventing journalists and a crowd of as many as 10,000 people from getting close to the site. Many in the crowd were screaming, afraid their relatives had been killed. Several hours after the crash, the building still was smoldering. (emphasis added)

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