Tehran Hospital Buildings In Neglect And Unsafe: Official

A Tehran Municipality official said on Thursday that the capital does not have adequate infrastructure and safety measures in place for hospitals.

Ali Nasiri, the head of the Crisis Prevention and Management Organization, compared the safety level of hospitals in Tehran with that of Abadan Metropol building.

In May 2022, the Metropol building in the southwestern city of Abadan suddenly collapsed, killing dozens and setting off weeks of protests throughout the country. Ignoring building construction regulations was deemed as the reason for the incident. Political connections of the owners and overall corruption and mismanagement were major factors.

Classifying buildings into A, B, C, and D categories, Nasiri stated: "Buildings A and B are resistant, building C requires investigation, and building D is the same as Metropol and must be closed. Unfortunately, most hospitals in Tehran fall into the Group D category."

Nasiri expressed concern about the lack of adequate funding for maintaining hospital infrastructures in the budget. "One day we see the hospital water pipse leak, and the next day we see a power plant leak. There is no attention paid to the infrastructure."

It is the second time in recent months that officials have expressed concern about the safety of hospitals in Tehran.

A Tehran City Council official in September, pointing to the Sina incident, said that many hospitals have poor standards, particularly in the area of fire safety.

Nineteen people were killed in an explosion caused by a gas leak at Sina Athar Medical Clinic in Tehran in 2020.