The death toll from a residential building collapse in the Lebanese city of Tripoli has risen to 15 after search and rescue operations ended, Lebanon’s National News Agency quoted the civil defense chief as saying on Monday.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in X that temporary housing assistance would be made available to displaced families for a year. (Reuters)Civil Defense Director General Imad Khreis said rescue teams rescued eight people from the rubble of a collapsed building in the Bab al-Tabbaneh area of the northern city.
Officials said Sunday that two adjacent buildings had collapsed.
Abdel Hamid Karimeh, head of Tripoli’s municipal council, said he could not confirm how many were missing. Earlier, the head of Lebanon’s Civil Defense Rescue Service said there were 22 residents in the two buildings.
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Several old residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, citing municipal officials.
Lebanon’s cabinet said after a meeting that the city’s municipal council is ready to issue a decision to evacuate 114 buildings at risk of collapse in more than a month.
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Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam X-ay said temporary housing assistance would be made available to displaced families for a year.
Karimeh said the problem of unsafe buildings in Tripoli was long-standing and driven by multiple factors, including construction violations, years of chaos, poor oversight and lack of regular maintenance, linked in part to restrictive rent control laws that discourage owners from investing in repairs.
He said many buildings in the city are between 60 and 70 years old and have exceeded their structural lifespan without required maintenance, increasing the risk of collapse. The problem, he added, has exceeded the capacity of municipalities and residents, calling for direct state intervention.
Authorities have begun providing temporary shelter to displaced families, while Lebanon’s Higher Relief Committee is providing housing allowances for up to three months, Karimeh said.
He added that charities, the Ministry of Social Affairs and international organizations were coordinating to provide assistance, saying the aim was to secure a minimum acceptable level of support for affected families.
