Iraq
Rescue teams are looking for those stranded in a building in Baghdad which collapsed on October 1, 2022. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi Interior Ministry's Security Media Cell announced on Saturday that civil defense teams rescued 13 people from under the rubble of a collapsed commercial building in the capital city of Baghdad.
The cell said in a statement that "Civil Defense teams managed to rescue 13 citizens after the collapse of a four-storey building in Al-Wathiq Square on Salman Faiq Street in the capital, Baghdad."
"The civil defense teams are still continuing the search and rescue operation," the statement added.
Local authorities in Baghdad have launched a probe into the incident.
Brig. Gen. Kathim Burhan said the commercial building houses "four to five medical labs and pharmacies."
"It has remained unclear as to why the building has collapsed," Burhan told Rudaw.
"According to the preliminary information, 17 were inside the building when it collapsed. Thirteen of them have been rescued from under the rubble," he said, adding the civil defense teams continue their searches in order to rescue those stranded.
Original reports indicated that 20 people had been inside the building, but the security media cell has not yet confirmed it.
In recent years, there has been an increase in building collapse incidents in the country, as specialists attribute this to the neglect of building owners and to a lack of safety conditions in construction.
In August a Shiite holy shrine in Karbala collapsed which resulted in the death of eight people, according to the Iraqi government.
Qattarat al-Imam Ali is about 25 kilometers from the holy city of Karbala, which is the burial site of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Imam Hussein.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment