UN officials say 70 to 100 people believed trapped under rubble
A six-story residential building that had been leaning for more than a year after an Israeli strike collapsed overnight in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, according to witnesses and officials. The collapse killed at least 21 people, including at least eight children, with dozens more reported missing.
The building housed about 10 families who had moved in because of a lack of alternative shelter, witnesses told the BBC. Some United Nations agencies and a team from Egypt were searching for survivors, though officials said the effort was moving slowly because of a lack of equipment.
“We are still hearing voices from under the rubble, so there is still hope to find people,” said Raed al-Dahshan, director of civil defense in Gaza City. “The limited availability of shelter options forced residents to move into this building, believing it was safe. However, at one point it collapsed entirely, tragically crashing down on people as they slept.”
Alessandro Mrakic, head of the United Nations Development Programme’s Gaza office, told reporters that between 70 and 100 people were believed to be trapped under the collapsed building.
“The situation, as you see, is tragic because we don’t have the equipment and machinery that is needed,” Mrakic said. “There are actually people digging with their bare hands.”
Mrakic said about 400 other war-damaged buildings across Gaza were at risk of collapse, particularly with winter approaching.
“We need support, most importantly with machinery, equipment, among others,” he said. “Our colleagues here don’t have [engine] oil and spare parts to continue to work with all the equipment that is still in Gaza.”
Witness Umm Mohammed Bakrun, who lived in a tent nearby, told the BBC she was talking to her son when the building came down.
“It felt like an earthquake. There was a loud sound, and I couldn’t stand up. Stones rained down on us, and when I looked outside I saw a lot of dust,” she told the BBC. “Within minutes, there were screams everywhere.”
Another witness, Mansour Abu Mohammed, said the building collapsed “in a few seconds.”
“Every day, a stone or a few stones would fall from it, but the people inside couldn’t find anywhere else to live,” he said. “I used to live next door to it, and you could see that it was tilting to one side.”
The United Nations estimated that about 80% of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas. More than 1.9 million people have been displaced, and 1.2 million of them are living in tents or makeshift shelters, it said.