The Tripoli municipality, through its Engineering Division - Buildings Department, has issued an evacuation notice to the owners and tenants of a building in the Zaheria – Khan Al-Askar area. This follows an engineering inspection revealing structural damage that threatens the safety of the building and its residents, as well as passersby.
According to the official notice, the building is located on property number 216 in Zaheria – Khan Al-Askar. The inspection highlighted issues with the roof, alongside a need for repair, reinforcement, and maintenance works. Moreover, an adjacent wall and a pillar in the ground floor garage require urgent attention, as per the Engineering Department’s report.
The municipality indicated that it had previously requested the owners to undertake the necessary repair and reinforcement works, but these actions have yet to be completed. The latest inspection maintains that the threat persists.
Consequently, Tripoli’s municipality has ordered the immediate evacuation of the building, holding the owners accountable for any civil or criminal liability should any incident or harm occur to the safety of persons or public property.
This warning comes in the aftermath of the catastrophic collapse of a building in Bab al-Tabbaneh, which shook Tripoli last February, resulting in the deaths of 13 people and injuries to 8 others, according to the final tally by the Ministry of Health.
Following the disaster, warnings intensified concerning the dangers posed by several old and dilapidated buildings in the city, accompanied by public movements and evacuations, prioritizing the issue of buildings at risk of collapse.
With a new alert issued in Zaheria, the perilous building issue resurfaces amid questions regarding the seriousness and responsiveness of enacted measures: Can the authorities contain the hazard before another disaster occurs, or will reaction remain tethered to incidents and casualties?
After the Tabbaneh tragedy, engineers’ warnings about crumbling buildings are no longer routine formalities but urgent calls for action to prevent structural threats from turning into another tragedy.