Sixteen people, including children, died in the collapse of a building on Sunday January 22 in a district of Aleppo, Syria's second city, according to the authorities and a media.
Rescuers, civil defense forces and firefighters continued operations to search for other missing people in the rubble in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud.
The collapse, which occurred at 3:00 a.m. (2:00 a.m. French time), while residents were sleeping, was caused "
by water infiltration in the foundations
", said the official Syrian agency Sana.
Seven families were housed in the five-storey structure according to the Interior Ministry, about 35 people according to residents.
Frequent collapses in Aleppo
According to a latest assessment provided by the Sana agency, the toll, which has continued to worsen, has risen to 16 dead and four injured people have been rescued.
The official Kurdish news agency Anha reported a provisional death toll of 12, including five children.
But the Sana agency mentioned in the morning in a first report a child among the dead.
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The collapse of residential buildings is quite common in Aleppo, whether due to illegal construction without solid foundations or cracks in structures caused by the heavy fighting in this northern city of the country between soldiers and rebels at the height of the crisis. war.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), based in Great Britain but which has an extensive network of sources in Syria, among the victims are people from the city of Afrin, more to the north, and displaced by the war.
The Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood is mainly inhabited by Syrian Kurds, including fighters, many of whom fled Afrin after neighboring Turkey launched an offensive there in 2018.
Nearly half a million dead
The city of Aleppo is under government control after it was recaptured from the rebels at the cost of fierce bloody fighting, but business and security in the Sheikh Maqsoud district are ensured by Kurdish forces.
Nearly half a million people have been killed in Syria's multi-actor conflict since it erupted in 2011, and around half of the pre-war population has been displaced.
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A large number of displaced people had to move into buildings in poor condition.
Last September, the collapse of a building in the Ferdaous district of Aleppo killed 10 people, including three children.