AMMAN: Five people were killed and 14 others were reportedly injured when a four-story residential building collapsed in Jordan’s capital Amman.
The Public Security Department said eight people were pulled from the rubble in the El-Luweibdeh area.
However, witnesses said many more were in the structure at the time of the collapse. Rescue operations were still under way.
Officials attributed the collapse to poor foundations and weak supporting structures. However, residents told Arab News that they believed work on a new adjacent building had contributed to the failure.
The residents said they had lodged complaints with Amman’s municipality about increased construction work in the area, known for buildings dating back to the 1940s, which had destabilized foundations and caused cracks in their own properties.
“Real estate tycoons are building large residential buildings for foreign expatriates without paying attention to the fact that the neighboring houses are very old and very fragile,” one resident said. “I really don’t know how they get the construction permits.”
El-Luweibdeh is a preferred neighborhood for foreign expatriates in Jordan.
Prime Minister Bishr Khadawneh visited the site of the collapse and ordered an investigation.
