Beirut rescue operation at collapsed building ends - BBC News

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tenants of the "run-down" building had reportedly been urged to move out, before the collapse happened The rescue operation at a collapsed building in the Lebanese capital Beirut has been called off after the authorities ruled out the possibility of finding more survivors.

The five-floor building in the Ashrafiyeh district of Beirut suddenly collapsed on Sunday evening killing 27 people.

Eleven Lebanese and 16 foreign workers were killed.

The victims came from Sudan, the Philippines, Egypt and Jordan.

It is not yet known what caused the sudden collapse, but there is speculation that cracks in the building made worse by heavy rain may have been the cause.

'Danger ahead'



12 people were injured in the collapse, none of them seriously

There are growing calls for the government to carry out surveys of similar buildings across the country, as officials warn that many more are at risk of collapse.

The head of parliament's public works committee, MP Mohammed Qabbani, said that as many as 20,000 buildings could face a similar fate.

Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh confirmed 12 people had been injured, although none of them seriously.

One witness told a local television channel that "it was like an earthquake" when the block collapsed.

A resident who escaped with her mother said the building was extremely run-down and the owner had recently warned tenants to move out, AFP reported.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman visited the site on Sunday evening, as did Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

Mr Charbel told reporters the building's owner was being questioned by the authorities.

He added it was essential to carry out a survey of similar buildings across the country, many of which were built illegally or had several floors added without proper permits.

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24 killed as apartment block collapses in Beirut - ABC Online

By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker and staff

Updated January 17, 2012 07:21:23

The death toll from the collapse of a six-storey Beirut apartment block rose to at least 24 people, as rescuers combed the rubble for more bodies.

One witness in the Ashrafiyeh district of the Lebanese capital told local TV that the sound of the building collapsing was "like an earthquake".

The apartment block was home to about 50 people - many of them Sudanese and Egyptian labourers.

Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh said 12 people had been injured and at least eight escaped when the apartment block suddenly collapsed.

Among the dead was a 15-year-old girl.

One witness said debris began falling from the building in the early evening before the entire block came crashing down.

A resident who escaped with her mother said the building was extremely run-down and the owner had warned tenants not to remain there shortly before it disintegrated.

She told local television that she and her mother managed to escape as the building came tumbling down but her father and three brothers remained trapped.

The owner has since been detained for questioning.

Anxious relatives stayed at the site overnight weeping and praying as rescue workers with bulldozers sifted through the rubble.

President Michel Sleiman rushed to the site on Sunday evening (local time) as did interior minister Marwan Charbel and other officials.

Mr Charbel told reporters it was essential to carry out a survey of similar buildings throughout the country, many of which were built illegally or had several storeys added without proper permits.

Anxious relatives stayed at the site overnight weeping and praying as rescue workers with bulldozers sift through the rubble.

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Death toll in Beirut building collapse rises to 20

Monday, January 16, 2012

BEIRUT –  Using cranes, bulldozers and their bare hands, Lebanese rescue workers searched the rubble Monday of a five-story residential building that collapsed after days of heavy rains, killing at least 20 people.

Most of the dead were foreign workers living in Lebanon. The owner of the building was arrested Monday, a day after the collapse.

"The ground shook like an earthquake, that's what we all thought," said Mazen Farhat, 46, who lives in the area and was passing by when the building collapsed. "I heard screams, and then the dust was everywhere, and I ran," he said as he stood among dozens of people watching the rescue efforts.

Building collapses in Lebanon are rare, and officials said the cause was not yet clear. It is possible that cracks in the old building were made worse by heavy rain or the effects of several nearby construction sites. Some residents reported hearing a small blast earlier this week, which turned out to be the snap of a pillar in the building.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said the building's owner, Michel Saadeh, was arrested and was being questioned.

Red Cross and civil defense workers in bright orange uniforms pulled out several bodies on stretchers Monday, rushing them away as relatives gasped and cried softly.

Rescue efforts were complicated Sunday by heavy rains and a thunderstorm.

Some 50 tenants lived in the building in Beirut's Fassouh district of Ashrafieh. It collapsed at around 6 p.m. Sunday as residents were returning home from work, increasing the number casualties, officials said.

The victims included eight Sudanese, two Filipinos, two Egyptians and two Jordanians, according to the security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Six Lebanese, including 15-year-old Anne Marie Abdel Karim, also died.

"I was asleep, I woke up and felt everything shaking and then something fell on me and I started screaming," said Antonella, Anne Marie's twin sister. She spoke to local reporters from her hospital bed, not knowing her sister had died. "Thank God it was just this, and nothing more," she said.

Among those presumed dead were also three brothers from the Farhat family who stayed on the ground floor after the building started to shake, trying to try and save their elderly father, Tanios Farhat, who was trapped inside. By afternoon Monday, the body of only one of the brothers Jihad Tanios, had been found.

Red Cross head of operations George Kattaneh confirmed the number of deaths and said 12 others were injured and were being treated in hospitals.

Several others were still missing, but officials said they did not expect to find any survivors. No survivors have been pulled out since late Sunday night.

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