Lebanon says 5 dead, including child, in building collapse in northern city

The toll in a building collapse in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has risen to five dead, state media reports, as rescuers search for survivors in the second such incident in weeks.

The state-run National News Agency reports “the collapse of an old building” in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood, the poorest in the impoverished city, adding that security personnel evacuated adjacent buildings fearing further collapses.

“Eight people have been rescued so far, while five victims have been recovered, including a child and an elderly woman,” it said.

Civil defense chief Imad Khreish tells local media that the building consisted of two blocks, each containing six apartments.

Local media showed images of residents and rescue workers trying to remove debris with basic equipment and their bare hands.

It comes after another deadly building collapse in Tripoli late last month.

President Joseph Aoun has requested all emergency services mobilize “to assist in the rescue operations and provide shelter for the building’s residents and those of neighboring buildings that were evacuated” as a precaution, a statement from his office says.

Lebanon is dotted with derelict buildings, and many inhabited structures are in an advanced state of disrepair.

Many buildings were built illegally, especially during the 1975-1990 civil war, while some owners have added new floors to existing apartment blocks with no permits.

In 2024, rights group Amnesty International said “thousands of people” were still living in unsafe buildings in Tripoli more than a year after the structures were weakened by a major earthquake centered on Turkey and neighboring Syria.