Qalamoun municipality asks residential complex residents to evacuate building

BEIRUT — The municipality of Qalamoun, a town located in the district of Tripoli, asked residents of a residential complex housing more than 200 people to evacuate the building after cracks and structural damage were detected in the columns and the concrete infrastructure.

According to our correspondent, some families left the complex after securing alternative housing, but the majority are still inside due to the lack of housing alternatives despite the fact that the municipality deemed the complex unfit for habitation.

The complex, called Kabbara, is located near the North Heaven beach resort in the town.

Our correspondent added that this is not the first time the municipality has requested the building’s evacuation. Meanwhile, most of its occupants, who have no alternative shelter, are appealing to the concerned authorities to provide safer alternative housing for them.

The situation is being followed up by the municipal police and the security forces, our correspondent adds.

This comes one day after a building collapsed in the city of Tripoli, killing 14 people. Tripoli, the poorest city in Lebanon, has seen a surge in building collapses this winter amid severe funding shortages, long-standing neglect and deteriorating infrastructure — a crisis that authorities have repeatedly warned could worsen without urgent intervention.