Two buildings collapsed in Dhar al-Moghr neighborhood in Tripoli on Jan. 7, 2026. (Photo provided by Michel Hallak/L'OLJ)
BEIRUT — The Education Ministry said Friday it temporarily closed a public school in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, after cracks were found in two neighboring residential buildings, citing concerns for student safety.
The ministry said the closure affects al-Ahd al-Jadid Public School in the Dhar al-Moghr neighborhood, where two adjacent buildings partially collapsed on Wednesday.
“Following the collapse of part of a building in Tripoli and due to the proximity of a school, the engineering unit of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education rushed to inspect the school building,” the ministry’s press office said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency (NNA). “The inspection showed that the school building itself is intact, but it is surrounded by two cracked residential buildings. To avoid any risk to students’ safety, the school has been temporarily closed pending municipal measures to secure the neighboring buildings.”
The ministry told L’Orient-Le Jour that students have been transferred to another school.
Tripoli municipality officials have repeatedly warned about the poor condition of the city’s building stock. A municipal census found that between 600 and 1,000 buildings are at risk of collapse, according to municipal council president Abdel Hamid Karameh.
In June, an abandoned former school collapsed on the road leading to the Tripoli citadel, without causing casualties. In June 2022, the collapse of a building in the Qobbeh district killed a child and injured several others.
Many such incidents are linked to long-standing neglect and structural deterioration in Tripoli, widely regarded as Lebanon’s poorest city. The situation worsened after cracks appeared in numerous buildings following the powerful earthquake that struck southern Turkey in February 2023 and was felt across Lebanon.
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