Buildings collapse in Tripoli, Tyre and Metn, no injuries

Tragedy was narrowly averted in the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend when the roof of a building housing 40 people collapsed. Two other buildings collapsed elsewhere in the country, but no injuries were reported.The four-story building, located in Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood of Tripoli, was inhabited by members of one extended family. Residents rushed outside after sensing that the roof was about to fall Saturday. “We felt ... the building shaking, so we evacuated it immediately,” said Samir Hijazi, the eldest member of the family. Hijazi said that he sent the municipality a request to renovate his apartment six months ago, but received no permit. Fadi Soda, another resident, complained that Tripoli’s municipality denied him a permit to repair his apartment. “We worked on repairing it by ourselves but police stopped us.” “We appeal to Prime Minister [Najib Mikati], ministers and officials of this city to look into our case and help us given the tragedy we are experiencing,” he added. “We have no shelter now.” Tripoli’s Mayor Nader Ghazal examined the scene early Saturday morning and followed up on efforts by municipality officials to clear the rubble. “Since 2010, the municipality has been sending letters to the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the Transport and Public Works Ministry, explaining that tragedy threatens the city, especially the old city,” Ghazal said. “Dozens of buildings are at risk of collapse and are crowded with people who are poor and cannot afford to move to another place,” he added. Ghazal said that the municipality had asked officials to provide help before it’s too late, lamenting that they had received little response. “Today, we are witnessing only one episode of the series ... and we really hope and urge the authorities to swiftly assume their responsibilities because people and the country can’t endure this any longer,” he said. Ghazal said that the municipality had received more than 200 complaints about buildings at risk of collapse. “But we are not capable of renovating or doing repair works,” he said. Another near disaster took place in the city of Tyre when Samir Sabrawi and his nine-member family fled their home in the old city when parts of it began to crumble while they were asleep. The city’s municipality ordered officials to examine the site. Also Saturday, mudslides caused the collapse of the wall of a church in the Metn village of Atshaneh, near Khinshara. Two cars were damaged.