A Civil Defense vehicle in Beirut, March 8, 2023. (Credit: Civil Defense Twitter account/@CivilDefenseLB)
BEIRUT — A fire in a residential building in Sid al-Bouchrieh, Metn, left at least five people dead and three injured Saturday, a spokesman for the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) told L'Orient-Le Jour.
The exact causes of the incident remain unknown.
According to the LRC, three lifeless bodies were found at the scene of the tragedy, while two more victims succumbed to their injuries after being transferred to a hospital in the area.
Two other people suffering from severe burns were taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Dora, Arz hospital in Zalka, and Geitawi hospital in Ashrafieh.
Civil Defense confirmed this information after extinguishing the flames.
The building owner, Dr. Paul Rabil, told L'Orient-Le Jour that the tenants, all nationals of Sierra Leone, moved into the building in the last six months.
"Arguments often break out between them for trivial reasons," he explained, claiming to have asked the tenants of five of his apartments to leave the premises recently, while he said three others are still occupied by people "working part-time."
The mayor of Jdeideh municipality, Antoine Gebara, said that the people living in the building have "a bad reputation, according to information circulating in the locality."
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the victims were Nigerian, as reported by the building owner. The victims were in fact nationals of Sierra Leone.
