BEIRUT, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has risen to 14, the Lebanese authorities said Monday.
Civil Defense Director General Imad Khreish said search and rescue operations finished, confirming 14 fatalities in total in the tragedy, which occurred Sunday in Tripoli's Bab el-Tebbaneh district.
There were eight people rescued from under the rubble, according to the head of the public emergency medical service.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has reaffirmed that the government is to provide shelters for evacuated residents and secure funding to immediately reinforce at-risk structures. He stressed that identifying dangerous buildings and assessing risk levels remain primarily the responsibility of local authorities.
Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri has called for national efforts to prioritize the reinforcement and rehabilitation of unsafe buildings in Tripoli, and speed up shelter provision and compensation for affected families. ■
