Lebanon: Four days of hope end in tragedy as woman’s body recovered from collapsed Tripoli building

Dubai: Lebanon’s Civil Defence has recovered the body of a woman who had been missing beneath the rubble of a collapsed residential building in Tripoli, bringing search and rescue operations to an end after four days.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Civil Defence said its teams found the body of female nurse Alissar Al Mir under the debris of the five-storey building that collapsed at dawn on Saturday in the Qobbeh area of the northern city. The body of her father had been recovered two days earlier, while the remaining three members of the family were rescued alive.

The agency said Al Mir was the last family member trapped beneath the rubble, marking the conclusion of continuous rescue efforts since the building’s collapse.

The incident had initially raised hopes of survivors after the Lebanese Red Cross said those trapped were believed to be alive. The building had reportedly been evacuated earlier due to structural cracks, but one family of five returned hours before it collapsed.

Authorities have ordered an urgent investigation, as the tragedy renews concerns over ageing and unsafe buildings in Tripoli.