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TOPSHOT - People inspect the damage on February 20, 2024, in the aftermath of a reported Israeli air strike the previous day close to the main coastal highway in the southern Lebanese town of Ghaziyeh, around 30km from the border with Israel. At least two Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanon on February 19, near the coastal city of Sidon, state media and an AFP photographer said. Hamas ally Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Four people were killed when a residential building collapsed south of Beirut, the Lebanese army said Tuesday, fuelling concerns about the safety of the housing stock after four years of economic crisis.
Four people were rescued as emergency teams assisted by troops searched for survivors into the early hours, the army added.
Monday evening's building collapse was the second this month in the Beirut satellite town of Choueifat. The previous one had caused no casualties.
Human rights group Amnesty International called on Lebanese authorities to "urgently... assess the safety of buildings across the country".
It said "thousands of people" were still living in "unsafe buildings" in Lebanon's main northern city of Tripoli more than a year after the structures were weakened by a major earthquake centred on Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
Lebanon's economy collapsed in late 2019, plunging most of the population into poverty, according to the United Nations.
Many inhabited structures are in an advanced state of disrepair and construction regulations are widely ignored.
