Bab al-Tabbaneh incident kills 13, confirms Health Ministry

BEIRUT — The Health Ministry announced Wednesday the final toll after the building collapse that occurred Sunday in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood of Tripoli: 13 dead, including a three-year-old child, and eight injured, one of whom was hit by stray gunfire.

These shots occurred as residents tried to alert others to evacuate the building.

After a long night of search and rescue operations in the rubble, Civil Defence had initially announced 14 dead on Monday.

Since the beginning of winter, several evacuations and collapses happened in Tripoli, mainly due to neglect and lack of building maintenance. In January, a father and his daughter died in a similar incident that made headlines in Lebanon.

Authorities have repeatedly warned of the growing risk of collapses in the city, the poorest in the country, where infrastructure is deteriorating amid chronic funding shortages. On Tuesday, the municipality carried out the immediate evacuation of the Kabbara building in the Qobbeh district.

In response to this situation, Nawaf Salam’s government decided Monday, following an emergency meeting, to order the evacuation of 114 at-risk buildings in Tripoli within a month, covering the housing costs of affected residents.

On Tuesday, a meeting was held in Tripoli, attended by, among others, Social Development Minister Hanine al-Sayyed, acting secretary general of the North Lebanon governorate Iman Rafai, and the president of Tripoli's municipal council, Abdel Hamid Karimeh.

According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), the meeting focused on implementing Cabinet decisions regarding risky buildings and establishing strict daily follow-up. It was decided to immediately launch the evacuation of the 114 identified buildings, coordinating the relocation of families to temporary shelters, with rental allowances to rehouse them within a week.

The Operations Management Chamber of the North governorate will provide the Social Development Ministry with the addresses of the displaced families to ensure their material and food assistance and their inclusion in the ministry’s "Aman" program, while the Health Ministry will cover their medical needs.

Additional centers will be evaluated and prepared in collaboration with the U.N., international organizations, and local associations. Finally, the operations chamber will issue a daily report on the progress of evacuations, family resettlements, aid distribution, building reinforcement, and monitoring of the Emergency Fund announced by the president of the municipal council.

Meanwhile, at Baabda Presidential Palace, President Joseph Aoun received Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar on Tuesday to discuss measures to address the collapses. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri also received a delegation from Tripoli at Ain al-Tineh, made up of religious representatives, the acting secretary general of the North governorate, and the president of the municipal council.