26 Dead in Ashrafiyeh Bldg. Collapse, Govt. Orders Probe, Compensations
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The death toll from the collapse of a six-storey building Sunday in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of Fassouh rose to 26 on Monday, officials said, with more people still trapped under the rubble.
Meanwhile, the cabinet announced it would grant compensation of 30 million Lebanese pounds (20,000 dollars) to the family of each victim as well as accommodation aid to families who had been living in the collapsed building.
The cabinet also formed a commission of inquiry headed by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and tasked it with unveiling the disaster’s circumstances and submitting a report about the collapse-prone buildings across the country.
The commission was also asked to submit suggestions on equipping the Civil Defense Department with the necessary machines to confront such calamities.
"Until now, 26 bodies have been recovered and we believe there are more buried under the building that collapsed Sunday evening," Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh told Agence France Presse on Monday evening.
The head of the General Security Department, Brig. Gen. Raymond Khattar, said earlier that by Monday afternoon the bodies of seven Lebanese, seven Sudanese, three Filipinas and two Egyptians were retrieved from the rubble of the six-storey apartment building in the neighborhood of Fassouh that was built in the 1940s.
Later on Monday, several media outlets said rescuers managed to retrieve the bodies of Lebanese victims Maroun Saad, Alice Saad, Farhat Noaim, Tanious Noaim, Charbel Noaim and Jeanette Abi Serhal.
In Amman, the foreign ministry spokesman said three Jordanians were killed: Farah Khalil Baqleh, his wife and their grandson Laith Charlie Baqleh.
The building housed some 50 people, many of them laborers from Sudan and Egypt, Khattar said, adding that at least eight people were known to have escaped as the building came down.
Eleven others were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals a day earlier. None of them was seriously injured.
No survivors were found during rescue efforts on Monday.
Around 10 people were still missing. But rescuers began facing a new hurdle in the afternoon after heavy rains lashed the area.
Premier Najib Miqati ordered the formation of a team of experts to probe the incident after witnesses said that the building’s owner, Michel Saadeh, had warned them not to stay in their apartments on Sunday night.
A witness, Gladiss Noaim, told LBC TV on Monday morning that the residents heard an explosion during Christmas which turned out to be cracks in one of the building’s foundations.
Noaim said that she and her mother were leaving their apartment on the first floor when the debris began pouring on them. Her father and three brothers were still under the rubble, she said.
Authorities are now questioning Saadeh to find out whether the incident was due to his neglect or the construction of a new building near the old structure.
Nearby buildings were evacuated on Sunday night upon the request of the security forces, LBC reported.
Ministerial sources told An Nahar daily that the cabinet would discuss the incident from outside its already packed agenda on Monday.
The sources said the issue of public safety will become a priority and the government will take all necessary and urgent measures to deal with hundreds or thousands of similar cases in Beirut and other areas.
Old buildings should be routinely inspected to avoid such a tragedy, they told An Nahar.
Bilal Hamad, the head of Beirut municipality, urged all residents to alert authorities should they suspect any danger in their neighborhoods and said a team of experts would soon begin to inspect buildings across the capital, many of which are built illegally or have had storeys added without proper permits.
"We will immediately deal with concerns over old buildings, some of which are ticking time bombs," Hamad told a news conference.
"I ask all residents, whether tenants or owners, to inform the municipality if they have any doubts about the safety of their building."
16 January 2012, 06:18
17
Since the crash of the Ethiopian flight a couple of years ago, the government had vowed at the time to create a special authority for natural disasters and catastrophes. How many more victims need to die before such an authority be put in place????
16 January 2012, 06:41
08
The lebanese governments don't have the first clue about building regulations, inspection, zoning etc
I suggest that they copy the code of some other country (Europe/USA/UAE/Qatar) and learn how to apply it strictly and honestly.
My prayers go to the wounded and the families of the victims.
16 January 2012, 09:16
112
No problems when for the past 20+ years we have had Rafic Syria, may he rot in hell, and his band of thieves, crooks and collaborators with every enemy of Lebanon run the farce. This is another reason why they should be thrown in jail pending their hanging. Also, our great president, may God bless him, tries continuously to remove the zeer from the beer, but one hand cannot by itself clap.
16 January 2012, 09:19
36
appearently some matters need blood so that the great governments we had/have think about dealing with,all that they can do is fight corruption while they were/are the most corrupted on earth... This is not the mistake of the owner, if our governments worked correctly a huge part of the buildings in beiruth didn't exist and all the rents were not so low, people want to eat and will rent cheaply and it will affect their safety... we need to learn about organisation,urbanism,respect the people that the governments are working for... before that this government spends money on projects that we don't need because of lake its presence, let them re-organise beiruth and its infrastructure, make the electrical lines under-ground, maintain water pipes and tel networks,repair roads... here we can see that a government is working for the sake of its people and for their safety, but no let them bark as dogs against each others and let the people die .
16 January 2012, 09:19
05
All my sincere prayers for the victims and their families. the municipality and the government must be held responsible for this accident.
16 January 2012, 10:10
07
Any1 willing to donate blood to help the Achrafieh residents, pls contact @DSCLebanon and don't forget to fill the doc http://bit.ly/A4jN4p
16 January 2012, 10:30
05
Tragic, very sad may god rest the souls of the passed ones and give strength and hope for those under the rubble.
16 January 2012, 11:01
18
To Mr. Cookie_Monster
The Lebanese traditionally THINK they are excellent in everything!
They also think that the International standards and the Cosmic laws do not apply in lebanon!
This is why we will keep having disasters like this one!
16 January 2012, 11:57
91
wow my post was deleted for i dont know what reasons...
anyway, suit yourself, Mr wakeup. it seems you live in the US.. in case u do, mabrouk for the made in china bridge your country has just imported and for all the wooden US houses blown away by hurricanes.
16 January 2012, 12:23
62
no but i know why the US commissions their bridges to the chinese. but my wild guess as to why they're made of wood is: easier to break in by burglars, easier to torch, can be more swiftly taken away by a typhoon?
16 January 2012, 12:36
35
because ya cookie to get one cubic meter of wood you save 0.8 tones of Co2, and wood will coast you 6 times less energy than concrete or steel so less impact on the poulltion, they are cheap and provide more design flexibility.Wood is the only building material derived from a renewable resource. It is considered an agricultural crop that is harvested and replanted in a continually regenerating cycle while nonrenewable resources such as iron ore are mined on a permanently depleting basis.
16 January 2012, 12:38
35
It is the best insulator of all structural building materials, thus conserving finite fossil fuels and coal by requiring less energy to heat and cool a home built with wood.
so combine those points with the fact that you mst build your house more than one time because of natural desasters i probably think that if this gray material exists in your skull you ll go for wood
16 January 2012, 13:12
32
Very well said Slash.
Also, Wood is far less brittle and much more flexible than concrete and therefore reacts excellently to lateral loads like wind and/or earthquakes.
In any case, lets keep the comments section civilized. Every time I sign in here the quality of discussion gets more and more degraded. shame
16 January 2012, 13:18
35
As an Israeli would like to convey my condolence to the deceased families and quick recovery to the injured.
In such time of sorrow would suggest to put aside all hostility and to approach to IDF for assistance.
As IDF has special trained squad with dogs who can handle such cases.
Same they did in Turkey during 1999 and recovered injured from the ruins.
I'm sure that if an official request will come from Lebanese government and with assurance to their safety the Lebanese request will not be refused.
As in this case might help saving human lives.
16 January 2012, 13:38
01
Our thoughts and prayers goes to the families and friends of all those who died in his tragedy. We pray for those who are still under the collapsed building.
I grew up in Achrafieh and currently live in Florida; I wish that those comparing the building codes of Lebanon ( inexistant) to those in the US and western world will stop doing so. It is not the proper avenue for that...There is people that are still missing under the building and many families are mourning their deads.....It is not the time to compare the engineering marvels of Lebanon versus the world....
May God have their soul...
16 January 2012, 13:42
72
thanks for your cultivated answer! i prefer saving trees and building with concrete, stone and steel (: while trees are giving off oxygen into my environment. meanwhile, here is your debunked post:
1-wood provides more design flexibility
more than steel and concrete? which can be molded in any shape u want?
2-It is considered an agricultural crop that is harvested and replanted in a continually regenerating cycle while nonrenewable resources such as iron ore are mined on a permanently depleting basis.
yeah right, so deforestation is not 'depleting' te resource? look at the bigger picture before insulting people and their intelligence. while ores can be recycled, wood, once burnt or broken into kindling, becomes USELESS.
3-so combine those points with the fact that you mst build your house more than one time because of natural desasters
depends on the natural disaster: while a wind can destroy a wooden house, it takes much more to destroy a concrete house.
16 January 2012, 13:44
21
the reaction to lateral loads depends on the height of your building... normally it is ment to be used in buildings less than 10 m height , you can go more than this height but with more thickness .
Even steel structures reacts too much to lateral loads e.g eiffel tower .
16 January 2012, 13:51
21
think cookie, when i say :
1- more design flexibility it means when you begin building and you want to change the design you can still do it in a wooden structure much easier than a concrete, i wasnt talking about your point in other words you dont have to demolish your concrete structure.
2- no one is talking about deforstation, in countries other than lebanon you cut a tree you replace it , it is only in Lebanon where you cut without caring .
3- i am not talking about wind and FYI wooden structures resist very good at wind, i am talking about typhoons and earthquakes where even concrete doesnt resist, when you are living on a border of two plates dude as in japan or california for example, you will build your house more than 1 time dude .
You make me lough, you want to argue just to argue and show you are as dumb as your feet .
16 January 2012, 14:06
43
would you stop blaming the government , if a dog shits you blame it on the government, give them a break .. I wonder what would 14 march do?? enno those deputes who came yesterday to the scene, let them throw some extra thousand dollars to have new rescue materials instead of just tenzir!!
the owner may be right and that he ordered evacuation so why can't us human beings take responsibility for once in what we do and take actions?? may the victims's souls be at peace, it is a lesson for us to learn ...
16 January 2012, 14:38
62
slash you make this sound as i'm opposed to wooden structures, or dont know the architectural virtues of wood. you give the conversation a direction i dont want and dont care to pursue. you keep yourself entrenched in your fallacies that only in lebanon there is deforestation without replacement and keep evading my point by saying like the kiddie you are 'i'm not talking about wind, i'm not talking about this or about that'. you go and enjoy rebuilding your house 30 times if you like it. that doesnt change the fact you're trying to pass as some pseudo intellectual by talking about tectonic plates and other BS irrelevant to this article.
16 January 2012, 14:41
00
Note to slash and Cookie....
1. The Americans build houses from wood not major structures such as buildings
2. Deforestation is happening everywhere, even if we decide not to cut down trees at all and only use concrete.... the production of concrete is very harmful to the environment... If we want to preserve the environment then we should either live like Buddhists or we should just roll over and die....
3. Lebanon actually lies on 2 major plates and we do get a major earthquake every 1000 years or so... chances are a well built house in Lebanon won't be destroyed twice, by a natural disaster, during the same generation
get your facts strait guys
16 January 2012, 14:49
23
@Cynthia : it is the responsibility of the municipality monitored by the interior ministry to survey and maintain infrastructure and buildings , when a building collapses it means that : or the owner received a warning from the municipality and didn't care or the municipality didn't do the job. I am not just talking about this government i just mentioned all the governments if you have read well my post.
As for you Cookie, i am not trying to pass for an intellectual like you, it is a part of my domain and unlike you i know what i am talking about... re-read your posts and you will see that it sounds like you are against, when we talk about economical point of view you are wrong, as for technical i just won't answer, you are still thinking how come the apple felt on Newton's head while he was taking a rest under the apple tree
16 January 2012, 15:30
00
I have never seen a country, where such a disaster happens and no one gets blamed for it !!! so you retarded politician shits....it was god's will that the building collapses?? not your ignorance? not your indifference for human life?
This is beyond infuriating that the same negligent politicians now walk in the funerals and give support to the people. what a bunch of hypocrites !! retards wake up- or wait- no dont wake up.
I hope a politicians house collapses like this. i hope their children and mothers die like this.
I hope all the retarded politicians lose loved ones (that is if they are capable of love), in order for them to appreciate the live of the ordinary citizen.
To those who died and to their relatives. I hope you do NOT rest in peace. I hope you come back from the dead and haunt the dreams and minds of the negligent politicians.
16 January 2012, 16:20
31
it's not me who attacked the other by calling him 'faylasouf' so it's not me who' 'against' anything, as i was pointing out that hundreds of US houses get blown in the wind every year and nobody says much. here, a concrete bldg collapses because of nearby excavations and i get a wisecrack engineer giving me a thesis on the benefits of woodcraft in architecture, as if i asked him to (:
i didnt even compare economically between the 2 but environmetally, how do you explain that a sizeable percentage of indian, brazilian, and african rainforests disappear yearly due to deforestation? no, the trees arent replaced as people and gvts claim to and yes, wood used for architecture is an environmental loss because it produces no more oxygen nor holds the soil together. you keep splattering outside your plate in your answers while i'm not even asking you anything (:
16 January 2012, 16:29
12
how is that soggy cookie, cookie_monster..? did you enjoy it today in your concrete jungle?
16 January 2012, 16:52
30
no cookies get soggy with cookie monster. they're all eaten fresh from the pack. none left for aragon the tranny...
16 January 2012, 16:59
21
what do you say about that COokie : " anyway, suit yourself, Mr wakeup. it seems you live in the US.. in case u do, mabrouk for the made in china bridge your country has just imported and for all the wooden US houses blown away by hurricanes." your original post ? is it not attacking ? and who told you that "faylassouf" is an injure ? from where did you get that ?
Your tropical forests were being raped till mid 90's after that regulations came out, there were still some exceptions but most of them were having their own gardens, as you can see it is like a farm, they plant their own trees in a field that they buy and they cut it and replace the cutted one by a small tree that is how it works ya "faylassouf" .
16 January 2012, 16:59
21
You are splattering outside your plate every one knows that and how it works, your green areas are disappearing not because of that reason, but for other reasons, there is a phenomenon called "effet de serre " i dont know the english word and it is playing a major role. increasing temperatures is a factor, irregular seasons is another one, focus on your courses kid before saying BS and try to get some general culture it will help you a little in your life .
16 January 2012, 17:03
22
and not to mention that you need to shelter those 7 billions human being, so your green areas will diminish. But all the green solutions that researchers/engineers are offering doesnt suit you , your "lebanese " mentality is killing you, and i mean your ignorance by that, you think that you are the smartest and you know better than every one, but that you dont know is that i prefer to cut a tree and replace it than to destroy a whole mountain to get the materials i need to build my concrete home dummy .
16 January 2012, 17:06
01
I have a civil engineering background, but work and live in N. America, and I had a chance to visit/inspect some of the buildings in different parts of Lebanon on different visits, sometimes asked by aquaintences, and sometimes by curiosity. I am not registered in the Lebanese Eng. Syndicate, but I remember visiting their offices in Beirut in the late nineties and complaining about the standards of some of the buildings, but to no avail. This tragedy came as no surprose to me, and I expect more to happen, as many buildings, some of which are high-rise, do not meet the min. requirements of the building code - any bldg code. I expect unfortunatley that more of these buildings will collapse - some with age and some due to unexpected conditions (earthquake, etc.). There is a little that the govenment can do now for these buildings after they had beeen covered and decorated with natural stone and marble.
16 January 2012, 17:41
02
Achrafieh is being overbuilt and our national architectural heritage is going to waste. I feel saddened for the victims because this catastrophe could have been avoided.
16 January 2012, 17:51
04
To Mr. Cookie Monster
FYI I don't live in the US. I live in Lebanon like you do. But that does not prevent me from seing the sad reality as it is. It's not a matter of competition between the US and Lebanon. If structures collapsed in the US this does not make the lebanese situation right. Beleive me something is seriously wrong in the lebanese system of issuing building permits and I too would like to see Lebanon back on its feet, but that couldn't be farther from the truth right now.
16 January 2012, 17:59
20
1- my previous post was deleted for some unknown reasons. i was talking about the deleted post. anyway it's gone now.
2-i'm sure you didnt mean 'faylasouf' in a complimentary manner, you arrogant little kiddie you...
3-you're full of BS concerning regulations in monitory rainforest area.
4-effet de serre=greenhouse effect. you're welcome. greenhouse effect is not WHY the green areas are disappearing. it's BECAUSE green areas are being 'raped' as you said, that we're witnessing the effet de serre, which is the trapping of CO/CO2 in the atmosphere due to decreasing vegetation. you need to stop mixing causes with effects, mr learned scholar.
5-barren mountains are suitable to make quarries! green mountains are supposed to be protected because of their rich fauna. yes, some mountains CAN be barren, like your leftist brain.
6-enjoy your mudhouse, tarzan... i have my jane to get back to.
16 January 2012, 18:02
20
i agree with your post, wakeup, i was answering another commenter who posted from the US and who was lauding the US architecture, before someone reminded him that a bridge in minneapolis went down entirely due to municipal neglect.
16 January 2012, 18:07
31
and i had some time to waste on s(p)lash who keeps throwing wiseguy explanations left and right about how to shelter billions of ppl and such, and all kinds of things unrelated to this article, just as long as s(p)lash manages to appear smart and cultivated. plz everyone, give s(p)lash the attention he needs he's not as mean as he actually appears to be. when he calls you names and stuff, let him! it's okay, he's just a bit insecure. thanks! now who wants a cookie?
16 January 2012, 18:10
31
suomimies, a very sensible post. thanks for bringing the discussion to its former direction.
16 January 2012, 18:39
22
1- thank you for the translation. But you still didn't get it i 'll let you check it and do some research about .
2- One of the major factors idiot is that your green areas are being used for food and agriculture, look to africa for exemple ... Go check ATO organisations and see the regulations;)
3- Quarren mountain idiot is used for artificial forest base development, adjusting the rural industrial structure, fostering rural economic growth areas, increasing farmers’ incomes you see the use now ?
i'll let you swim in your shit for a while .
16 January 2012, 19:07
21
well cookie, i am just answering your posts, you ask i answer if i know ... it seems that when you are confused you accuse others while all i did is correcting your infos.
And like i told you before your pride doesn't support your ignorance so when you begin feeling it you are confused, if there is someone insecure here on this site and especially on this topic is you . Go back and read all the posts from the beginning and see the one confused. I didn't injure you i just called you "faylassouf" and it is true, the number of BS that you can produce is hallucinating ! Your cookie keep it to yourself, that is how we award a dog when he learns an order ;)
16 January 2012, 19:41
12
Slash, fair points (regarding lateral load), I agree, but I didn't want to go into the if/ands or butts in a message board.
And if you want some advice, dont bother yourself with needless argumentation (no offense mr.cookie)
I dont think he wants to be constructive. so save yourself some energy.
Are you a (or studying) structural engineering or architecture?
16 January 2012, 20:17
11
@th21 : There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. don't worry it entertains me to argue with them :)
16 January 2012, 21:08
20
th21... i may be vicious but if u want to see anger, read slashie's posts, here. look at how many times he insults in one line. it's a sign of true insecurity to tell the other (repeatedly) that he's an idiot and by answering him with irrelevant data like structural rural industrial forestingation in africa and other 3am kherfen material (:
he doesnt know how entertaining HE is to me. he might wanna send his cv to japan maybe they'll buy his theories and build wooden highrises. u never know, with this miracle material's lateral load y'know... they say it's quake-proof!
16 January 2012, 21:22
10
cookie, you seem to be on the apple, you never understood something basic things for you semm to be really complicated... keep pretending to know , i don't have to prove anything and especially for an illiterate person as yourself. What it seems to be a norm in these days for you is a miracle material well it is not my word you are putting in doubt, researches have been done and it was the results of complete studies that took time and energy ... you want us maybe to talk about " tenjim" it seems the only domain you are good at seeing your superficial hypothesis . Keep the good work dummy ;)
16 January 2012, 21:27
11
and if you go back to the meaning of the word "idiot" it is not an insult, it is someone who acts in a deficient or counterproductive way ... in other words "you". It is like we are insulting a sick person if we are saying that he is sick .
16 January 2012, 21:33
00
yalla!! and the government keeps on giving licenses for construction with no recognition of such old buildings!! the only thing this government cares about is its pockets!!.....i just want to point out a question...if God forbid an earthquake happens in Lebanon, what will be of all such unsupervised old buildings all around the country???imagine the extent of disaster that wwould take place!!!!!!!!!!!
16 January 2012, 22:08
31
good good... look sorry i have to go, you bored me here.. but i'll check ur rants from time to time. better have sthg interesting to have. you lost steam in the last 36 posts. unlike you, i have a life (:
c ya splashie
16 January 2012, 22:18
10
The building was already in bad shape, but what made.worse and caused this free fall was because of the wind load. Wow sho Hal ballad el ta3ees. We are like a 4th world country now. Lebanon is like a version of the worst areas in brazil or Mexico.
17 January 2012, 03:35
02
Heavy rain, building collapses and kills 26+ and the emergency services are facing trouble. Imagine what would happen in an earthquake + tsunami situation. Alla Yestor.
17 January 2012, 05:58
02
To slash
You seem to be an educated person. That's a good start!
I don't understand why no 2 lebanese can have a civilized conversation without turning it into a fight. I thought this happens only when we discuss politics. But no! you and cookie master were just having a technical conversation and you couldn't help insulting each others!
Sadly this is another factor which contributes to the repeated disaters we keep having! we can never work as a team!
17 January 2012, 07:15
10
@Wakeup : When you have a guy like "Mr.cookie" arguing just for the sake of arguing, and just saying the opposite of what you are saying because your profile picture doesnt suit his political view, and even he is wrong he will stick more to what he said and the conversation will turn to a fight.
From my side Wakeup, there is no fight, just waking him up... people having a technical background can judge the posts and see who is wrong... his opinion doesnt really move even my left b... hope you see what i mean.
@Cookie : Good luck son with your"life" you will tons of it ;)
