Syria building collapse kills 11 in Aleppo

Illegal five-story building gave way in southern district of Fardous on Wednesday evening

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A building collapsed in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday evening, killing at least 11 people.

The five-storey building gave way in the city's southern district of Fardous, Syrian state television reported.

Seven women, three children and an elderly man were killed.

The official Sana news agency reported earlier that a child and a woman were rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital.

The TV report said two people were injured and seven nearby buildings were evacuated amid fears they could also collapse.

Search operations are still continuing as rescuers race to find more people who might be buried under the rubble.

Muid Madlaji, head of the Aleppo city council, said the building was built illegally and had weak foundations, Sana reported.

He said it was located in an area where irregular housing has come up and which had been “destroyed due to terrorism”, referring to the country's civil war.

Fardous was a rebel-held district for four years until government forces, with the help of Russia and Iran, captured eastern parts of the city in December 2016.

Many buildings in Aleppo were completely destroyed or damaged during Syria’s 11-year conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

Aleppo is Syria’s largest city and was once its commercial centre.

Updated: September 08, 2022, 4:37 AM