The death toll from a building collapse in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to nine on Sunday, a civil defence official said – the second such incident in recent weeks.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported the collapse of an old building in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood, the city’s poorest area. Rescuers were still searching for survivors.
Security forces evacuated nearby buildings over fears of further collapses.
An AFP correspondent at the scene saw teams of rescue workers labouring into the night amidst the rubble, with ambulances on standby.
Civil defence director general Imad Khreish told local media that nine people had died, while six others rescued were taken to hospital. The building consisted of two blocks, each containing six apartments. Residents estimated that about 22 people were inside at the time of the collapse.
Local activist Jumana al-Shahal described the incident as “a testament to the accumulated neglect of this forgotten city.”
Mayor Abdel Hamid Karimeh declared 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.”
Years of neglect
The latest tragedy follows 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 politicians and vandalising metal barriers.
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 that the collapsed building was not on that list.
Lebanon is dotted with derelict buildings, many in an advanced state of disrepair. Numerous structures were built illegally during the 1975–1990 civil war, while some owners have added extra floors to existing blocks without permits.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the government was ready to provide housing allowances to residents of unsafe buildings. He described the incident as a “humanitarian catastrophe” caused by “long years of accumulated neglect” and summoned the justice and interior ministers for an emergency meeting.
Investigation ordered
Justice Minister Adel Nassar asked the public prosecutor in the north to open an immediate investigation into the collapse.
A recent report by research and design firm Public Works Studio highlighted that several buildings in Tripoli fully or partially collapsed in January, citing unplanned urban expansion and poor construction oversight as key factors.
In 2024, Amnesty International warned that thousands of residents in Tripoli were still living in unsafe buildings more than a year after a major earthquake in Turkey and Syria had weakened local structures. Even before the February 2023 quake, residents had raised concerns about their housing, citing decades of neglect and lack of compliance with safety regulations.
Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis has further compounded the problem, leaving residents unable to afford repairs or alternative accommodation. Amnesty called on authorities to “urgently assess the safety of buildings across the country.”
