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Agence France-Presse

The death toll in a building collapse in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Monday climbed to 14, a civil defence official said - the second such incident in weeks.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported “the collapse of an old building” in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood, the poorest in the impoverished city.
Teams of rescuers toiled into the night on the rubble of the collapsed structure, as ambulances stood by.
Civil defence director general ‍Imad Khreiss said rescue teams recovered 14 bodies ‍and rescued eight people from the rubble of the collapsed buildings.
Officials said on ‍Sunday that two adjoining buildings had collapsed. Earlier, the head of Lebanon’s civil defence rescue service said the two buildings were home to 22 ‌residents.

Local activist Jumana al-Shahal said at the site that the incident was “a testament to the accumulated neglect of this forgotten city”.
Mayor Abdel Hamid Karimeh told journalists “we declare Tripoli a disaster-stricken city” due to unsafe buildings.
“Thousands of our people in Tripoli are threatened due to years of neglect,” he said. “The situation is beyond the capabilities of the Tripoli municipality.”
This latest disaster came after another deadly building collapse in Tripoli late last month.
After Sunday’s incident, the NNA reported that angry young men took to the streets on motorbikes, some heading “to the offices of some politicians” and vandalising metal barriers there.
In January, the head of the higher relief authority, Bassam Nablusi, citing Tripoli municipality statistics, said 105 buildings required “immediate warning notices to their residents to evacuate”.
Local media reported the structure that collapsed on Sunday was not included in a list of buildings at imminent risk.
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 without permits.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the government was ready to provide housing allowances to residents of buildings requiring evacuation.
In a statement, he decried a “humanitarian catastrophe” that he said was caused by “long years of accumulated neglect”.
His office said he had summoned the justice and interior ministers for an emergency meeting.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar asked the public prosecutor in the north to open an immediate investigation into the incident, the NNA said, reporting that procedures had begun.
A recent report by research and design firm Public Works Studio said several buildings fully or partially collapsed in Tripoli in January.
It cited causes including unplanned urban expansion and a lack of proper construction oversight.
In 2024, rights group Amnesty International said “thousands of people” were still living in unsafe buildings in Tripoli more than a year after a major earthquake centred on Turkey and neighbouring Syria had weakened the structures.
Even before the February 2023 quake, Tripoli residents “had raised the alarm about their dire housing situation, caused by decades of neglect and contractors’ lack of compliance with safety regulations”, it said.
The situation was compounded by Lebanon’s years-long economic crisis meaning residents could not afford repairs or alternative housing, it added, urging authorities to “urgently... assess the safety of buildings across the country”.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Tripoli’s mayor warns that thousands of people remain at risk in unsafe buildings due to years of neglect


Tripoli’s mayor warns that thousands of people remain at risk in unsafe buildings due to years of neglect.


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Amnesty International

Lebanon’s Tripoli called a ‘disaster-stricken city’ after deadly building collapse

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tripoli’s mayor warns that thousands of people remain at risk in unsafe buildings due to years of neglect

Tripoli’s mayor warns that thousands of people remain at risk in unsafe buildings due to years of neglect