Feb 9 (Reuters) – The death toll from the collapse of residential buildings in the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to 14 after search and rescue operations ended, Lebanon’s National News Agency said on Monday citing the civil defence chief.
Civil defence director general Imad Khreiss said rescue teams recovered 14 bodies and rescued eight people from the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the northern city’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood.
Officials said on Sunday that two adjoining buildings had collapsed.
Abdel Hamid Karameh, head of Tripoli’s municipal council, said he could not confirm how many people remained missing. Earlier, the head of Lebanon’s civil defence rescue service said the two buildings were home to 22 residents.
A number of aging residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, citing municipal officials.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and David Holmes)
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