Iran's Abadan protests mount demanding justice

Hundreds of people took to the streets in southwestern Iran demanding justice after a tower block collapse killed 24 people, news outlets in the Islamic republic said on Friday.

It was the third night of protests in Abadan and other cities of the province which borders Iraq, local media reported.

Security forces in Abadan "used tear gas and shot in the air near the collapse site" on Friday night to disperse hundreds of protesters, who were mourning the lives lost and demanding justice for the perpetrators of the incident, Fars news agency said.

Some shouted “Death to incompetent officials” and hailed the “Martyrs of Metropol,” Fars said.

People also took to the streets further afield including in the central Iranian cities of Isfahan, Yazd and Shahin Shahr on Friday to express sympathy with the victims of the tragedy, Fars news agency added.

On Thursday night, a shop in Abadan belonging to the family of the building's owner "was set on fire and destroyed by unknown individuals," Tasnim news agency reported earlier.

A large section of the 10-storey Metropol building that was under construction in the city of Abadan, in Khuzestan province, crumbled on Monday, causing one of Iran’s deadliest such disasters in years.

In a previous major disaster in Iran, 22 people, including 16 firefighters, died in a blaze that engulfed the capital’s 15-storey Plasco shopping center in January 2017.