Building collapse in northern Lebanon kills at least six people

Council member Abdel Hamid Karimeh says seven people injured as rescue teams search for people trapped under rubble.

At least six people have been killed and seven others were wounded when two adjoining buildings collapsed in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the head of ⁠the municipal council said.

Abdel Hamid Karimeh, speaking at a press conference in Tripoli on Sunday, did not say how many people might still be ‌trapped under debris in the northern city’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood.

Search and rescue operations were under way, with civil defence teams, supported by the Lebanese Red Cross and emergency and relief agencies, leading efforts.

Residents of the neighbourhoood also took part in rescue efforts, rushing to help remove debris and create openings in the collapsed building.

Members of the Internal Security Forces and Tripoli municipal police have evacuated residential buildings adjacent to the collapsed building, fearing their collapse, amid a heavy deployment of army personnel, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. It said eight injured people had been rescued.