Shock and grief overwhelmed the city of Abadan in Iran's oil-rich southwest, as residents and emergency teams were racing against time to rescue possible survivors from under piles of debris following the partial collapse of a 10-story building on Monday.  

More than 36 hour after the incident, at least 14 people were confirmed dead, while dozens more were believed to be still trapped.  

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, a former military commander with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was on site to command the operations in person, the IRNA news agency reported. In his latest interview with the state TV, Vahidi declared that an estimate for the end of the debris removal operation was not possible. He noted that rescue was being hindered by fears for the collapse of the adjacent buildings constructed on similarly poor structures.  

The high-rise known as Metropol was one of twin buildings meant to serve as a commercial center, which was only semi-operational at the time of the collapse. In the immediate aftermath, Saeed Hafezi an exiled journalist originally from Abadan, shared a video he had posted last year, in which he had cited supervising civil engineers about serious flaws in the construction, including apparent curves and liquefaction, with clear caution about an imminent tragedy.