Rescue workers assess the damage after a four-story building collapsed in Choueifat, south of Beirut, on Monday Feb. 19. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — At least four people, including a baby, were killed after a residential building in Choueifat, south of Beirut, collapsed in the middle of the night on Monday. It marks the second building collapse in the same area in less than 10 days.
Local authorities and rescue workers told L'Orient Today that four people have been injured. A lawyer for the municipality of Choueifat says that there was no one left under the debris.
According to our reporter on the ground, Ghadir Hamadi, people in surrounding buildings are being evacuated and leaving their homes with clothes in bags. “Some of the women here are crying, as they knew the people inside the building collapsed,” our reporter added.
Others told L'Orient Today that they are in disbelief at what happened, but that they are unsure whether the collapse was the result of a natural disaster or the apartment block being badly constructed.
A Choueifat resident walks with bags of his belongings after being evacuated from the area following a building collapsing the night prior. (Credit: João Souza/L'Orient Today)
On Monday night bulldozers were brought in within the hour after the collapse and first responders worked to remove the debris to rescue those underneath, according to Mohieddine Chahine, a member of the municipality who spoke with L'Orient Today.
Later in the evening, the Civil Defense announced that four people had been rescued: The father, mother, and two sons of one of the families trapped under the remnants of the building. The remains of the youngest child, the fifth member of the family were also retrieved, according to the statement. But this morning the death toll increased to four, with another four injured.
At Kamal Joumblatt Hospital a nurse told L'Orient Today that one patient is in critical condition and another is in intensive care. Our reporter said people have also come to the hospital to mourn the four people who have died.
"A lady is on the phone crying and speaking to her relatives in Syria and telling them to 'accept God's fate' that their family members have died," our reporter added.
During the initial aftermath of the collapse, Chahine told L'Orient Today that the building was "an old four-story building that houses Syrian families" with shouting and screaming audible in the background as he spoke.
He described how two families were trapped last night and that the Civil Defense and the Red Cross were working to remove the rubble.
Two buildings collapse within ten days in Choueifat
On Feb. 11, nine days ago, a five-story building collapsed, also in Choueifat. Fortunately, there were also no casualties, as residents observed the windows and tiles cracking as the building started to shift, giving them ten minutes to evacuate before the whole thing collapsed
That building was part of estate number 157, which comprises multiple buildings, all of which Camille Hashem, a representative from the Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA) suspects may share the same structural vulnerabilities as the collapsed building, including weak foundations and safety issues.
Map showing collapsed buildings in Lebanon over the last 6 months. (Visualisation by Jaimee Haddad/L'Orient Today)
Just a few days ago, Hashem told L'Orient Today that he speculated all buildings within estate 157 could be classified as at-risk structures and “might share the same fate as the collapsed building if no immediate action is taken.”
“It seems that it was built in the period between 1975 to 1995 when construction became chaotic,” Hashem said, referring to the tumultuous period of the Lebanese Civil War.
L'Orient Today was unable to confirm whether the building that collapsed Monday evening was part of estate number 157.
Two days ago, a two-story building partially collapsed in Rihab, in Beirut's southern suburbs, with no casualties.
Several cases of partial or complete building collapse have occurred across Lebanon in recent years. There have been repeated calls for the relevant authorities to identify buildings at risk, but no serious efforts have been made in this area. The deadliest incident remains the collapse of a residential building in Fassouh, in the Achrafieh district, on Jan. 15, 2012, killing 20 people.