Death toll in Lebanon building collapse rises to 15

BEIRUT (AP) — The number of people killed in a building collapse in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon has risen to 15, state media reported Monday, while the government ordered evacuation of more than 100 other buildings believed to be at risk.

A further eight people were injured, the state-run National News Agency reported. Lebanon’s civil defense said at least one person suffered a gunshot wound. Residents of the area gathered around the crater where the building had fallen and fired in the air following the collapse.

The six-story apartment building in the impoverished Bab Tabbaneh neighborhood collapsed Sunday afternoon. Resident of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, but the incident on Sunday sparked particular outrage due to the high death toll.

Surrounding buildings in the area were evacuated out of fear that they, too, might be structurally compromised.

Officials have pledged to investigate the cause of the collapse and take legal measures against those found responsible.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam chaired a meeting Monday with national and local officials, during which the decision was made to evacuate 114 buildings deemed to be at risk of collapse in stages over the course of a month.

The country’s Higher Relief Committee will then work to reinforce the buildings that can be saved, while those that are seriously structurally unsound will be demolished, Salam told journalists after the meeting. He said a housing allowance would be provided to the evacuated families for one year.