[JZoback]

Obviously an Israeli plot.

< / sarcasm >

[dead]

Who knew they had a tall building?

[jigsaw]

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.

Gravity, perhaps.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

A seven-story building collapsed in Beirut on Saturday, with first reports indicating scores of casualties...

I'm still waiting for CNN to show pictures of people dancing in the streets of lower Manhattan.

[ellery]

sad -- prayers for the victims...

[Chad Fairbanks]

I thought all the tall buildings collapsed long ago...????

[csvset]

Sky News

Several people are feared dead after a building collapsed in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Reports indicate at least five people were crushed to death.

Many were trapped under large chunks of concrete as debris fell onto a street in a crowded commercial district on Saturday.

Crushed

Witnesses said several construction workers who had been restoring part of the building in the Corniche al-Mazraa neighbourhood were crushed.

The number of casualties is not immediately clear.

Television stations reported at least five people had been killed, but there was no confirmation of that toll.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, where Lebanese television showed rescue workers struggling to pull people from beneath jagged chunks of debris.

[blam]

(From BBC)

Saturday, 23 March, 2002, 13:25 GMT

Fatalities in Beirut building collapse

A multi-storey building has collapsed in the Lebanese capital Beirut, killing at least two people and injuring scores.

The building reportedly collapsed forwards, sending debris flying down the street, crushing several passers-by and vehicles.

The building, a seven-storey school, is located on the Corniche Mazraa, a busy boulevard in a densely populated area of the city. It "turned into a pile of rubble", officials said.

The cause of the collapse, which occurred at 1230 (1030 GMT), is not yet known. But construction workers had been carrying out restoration work on the building.

Trapped victims

The remains of two people have so far been removed from the site, but there is speculation that more may be trapped inside.

Police said approximately 15 of the construction workers were in the building when the incident occurred.

Passers-by were hit by falling debris

There are conflicting reports about whether the school was in use at the time of the collapse. Some witnesses say the school had not been in use for many years, after it was damaged in the 1975-90 civil war.

But some have been saying that the building had recently been re-occupied by a school and renovations begun.

Weekend rush-hour traffic was halted on the main Mazraa highway to allow emergency services to reach the site and Lebanese television showed rescue workers and neighbours struggling to pull people from beneath the debris.

Workers used pneumatic drills to break up concrete slabs that had fallen on two cars, which rescue workers said contained people.

Bulldozers are moving in to start clearing debris.

Rescue workers managed to pull one man out of the rubble alive. He was in a state of shock but appeared to be uninjured.

The BBC's correspondent in Beirut says the emergency services are being hampered by the crowds of hundreds of people who have gathered to witness the spectacle.

[blam]

[Red Jones]

they were probably modifying the building somehow to cause its collapse;

[GeronL]

I would think this was an OLD building that probably couldn't be renovated

[US_MilitaryRules]

Building codes? We don't need no stinkin building codes!

7 stories of mud works just fine!

Its the 8th that does the damage.

[b4its2late]

They'll blame the U.S. They didn't receive enough foreign aid to shore up the building .......

[dr_who]

Shame. I'm surprised there are any buildings left in Beirut.

[bert]

Too much water. Not enough Portland cement.

[PatrioticAmerican]

"This bolt boss?"

[RightOnline]

May God bless these people..........and especially the victims' families. What a terrible thing...........

[skr]

Prayers for the victims, the families and the rescue workers. A horrible situation for all concerned.

[Mr. K]

a suicide bomber prep that went wrong? (just a thought)

[CRAW]

Where is the Red Cross?

I see an excellent chance for them to make some big bucks here.