A picture of a building that partially collapsed in Rihab's area of Beirut's southern suburbs, Feb. 17, 2024. (Credit: NNA)
Parts of a two-floor building collapsed on Saturday in Rihab in Beirut's southern suburbs, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. No casualties were recorded.
The head of the municipality of Ghobeiri, Mouin Khalil, told NNA that the dwelling was offered to Syrian workers, and was built in violation of building laws.
Khalil also said that his municipality will sue the owners for violating property laws and offering to rent buildings that are at risk of collapse.
More than 16,260 buildings are at risk of collapse across the country, President of the Lebanese Association of Properties Andira al-Zouhairi told L'Orient Today, indicating that these "approximate and non-final" numbers were recorded before the Aug. 4 2020 Beirut port explosion.
Zouhairi added that 4,000 buildings are at risk of collapse across Tripoli and North Lebanon governorate, while 10,460 are at risk in Beirut.
Due to the absence of a formal consensus, these figures should be regarded as approximations. Nonetheless, there is undeniable evidence that a significant number of buildings in the country have structural failures, she said.
Most recently, on Feb. 11, a five-story building in the Choueifat area, south of Beirut, collapsed.