Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the building, just north of the capital’s sprawling bazaar, fell. Police tried to keep out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables.
The building came down in a matter of seconds, shown live on state television, which had begun an interview with a journalist at the scene. A thick plume of brown smoke rose over the site after the collapse.
More than 200 people injured in the fire were transferred to medical facilities
Hundreds of people have queued up in hospital and clinics to donate blood, while several firefighters are reported to have been trapped in the basement of the collapsed commercial complex.
Collapse moment of the buildings near the plasco building
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