Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed the hope on Saturday that a number of people trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in downtown Tehran would be retrieved safe and sound.

President Rouhani visited the site of the Plasco building in central Tehran on Saturday morning, expressing the hope that some of the people trapped under the rubble would be still alive and saved.

He also called for comprehensive plans to ensure the safety of the old buildings that face the same threats.

As the operation to find the people under the rubble of the collapsed building has entered the third consecutive day, rescue teams retrieved the first body from smoldering debris on Saturday morning.

The rescue operation is hampered mainly by the metal beams in a pile of rubble with white plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

Firefighters, soldiers and other emergency responders have been digging through the debris over the past two days, looking for survivors. It is not clear how many people were in the steel-and-concrete building when it collapsed.

According to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, between 20 to 25 people are believed to have been trapped under the rubble.

Top stories of the Plasco building caught fire at around 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, and the whole building crumpled to the ground four hours later.

The 17-story structure was inaugurated in 1962 and named after a plastics manufacturing company. It was the tallest building in the city at the time of its construction. It included shopping centers and clothing workshops.

Iran’s government has declared a day of national mourning in commemoration of the firemen killed in the tragic incident.

News ID 188163