Two workers were killed and several injured when the ceiling of a 19th-century Damascus landmark collapsed while under renovation on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported.
Rescuers were searching for workers still trapped in the rubble of the building, known as the Saraya, in Marjeh Square, in the centre of the capital, state news agency Sana said.
The search is complicated by a reluctance to use heavy machinery out of fear that the whole building might collapse, Sana quoted head of Damascus Civil Defence Hasan Al Hassan as saying.
Damascus governor Maher Marwan said that “we bear our responsibilities towards the injured in the partial collapse incident”.
Saraya was built in the late 19th century when Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire and has in the past been used as offices for the Interior Ministry.
When former president Bashar Al Assad was ousted by rebels last December, parts of the building were damaged in a fire.
Syria’s 14-year civil war killed half a million people and left the country in ruins, with maintenance and renovation work on institutions and infrastructure curtailed.
“The old regime neglected this building for years,” Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al Baba told reporters outside Saraya.
