15 Killed in Tripoli Building Collapse

A six-story residential building collapsed in the impoverished Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, on Sunday afternoon, killing 15 people and injuring eight others, officials reported Monday as rescue operations concluded.

The structure, which contained 12 apartments and housed 22 residents, came down around 4:30 p.m., trapping occupants under tons of debris. Civil Defense teams, led by director general Imad Khreiss, worked through the night to clear rubble and extract survivors. By Monday, all 15 bodies had been recovered, including that of a woman found late in the search. The eight injured individuals were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Khreiss confirmed that operations had ended, though the exact number of people initially unaccounted for remained unclear amid the chaos.

Security forces, including the Lebanese Army, deployed heavily in the area to manage crowds of angry residents who gathered at the site, blocked some roads and, in one instance, fired shots into the air in frustration. At least one of the injuries was reported as a gunshot wound, according to civil defense officials. Adjacent buildings were swiftly evacuated out of...