Three Iranian police officers were killed Sunday and 11 other people injured when several buildings collapsed in the capital Tehran, local media said.

The policemen were securing the planned demolition of "unauthorized buildings" in southwest Tehran, ISNA news agency reported.

It said that while attempting the demolition of the first building, five others collapsed.

The incident "caused the death of two policemen," ISNA reported, later saying a third officer had died.

Operations were underway to "find other people trapped under the rubble," ISNA said.

The report quoted a police statement saying the buildings which collapsed did not comply "with construction safety measures."

A Tehran city official said Saturday that authorities had demolished more than 46,000 unauthorized buildings over the past two years, according to municipality newspaper Hamshahri.

In May 2022, a building collapse in Iran's southwest killed 43 people, in one the country's deadliest such incidents.

The collapse of the 10-story Metropol building, which had been under construction in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan province, sparked protests across the country decrying corruption and incompetent authorities. (AFP via VOA)