AMMAN: A man and a baby were rescued on Wednesday from under the rubble of the four-story building which collapsed in Jordan’s capital Amman on Tuesday, as the search continues for more survivors and the government announced a probe into the disaster.
The Public Security Department said in a statement on Wednesday that rescuers were able to pull the man in his 50s out alive from under the residential building in Amman’s El-Luweibdeh neighborhood.
The baby, meanwhile, is less than a year old and was given first aid at the scene and then taken to hospital.
لحظة اخراج الطفلة ملاك من تحت الانقاض بعد 26 ساعة من الجهود .. لحظات لن تنسى في ذاكرتنا وصورة ملاك ذات الاربعة شهور ستبقى ايقونة للامل والحياة
— مديرية الأمن العام (@Police_Jo)
A spokesman of the official public security directorate said the death toll rose to 10 with the discovery of the body Thursday.
The PSD said rescuers were still searching for more survivors.
Officials said that between 25 to 30 people were in the building when it crumbled on Tuesday.
The PSD said hundreds of rescuers were working at the site.
People living in neighboring buildings said the saved man’s wife was injured in the collapse and was taken to hospital on Tuesday.
But they added that their son, in his 20s, is possibly still trapped under the ruins.
“They were living on the ground floor,” an owner of a supermarket nearby said.
“A newlywed couple was also in the building. The wife is Jordanian and was rescued on Tuesday while her husband, an Arab national, is believed to be still under the depths,” he said.
Visiting the site on Wednesday, Minister of Media Affairs Faisal Shboul said that at least 10 people are likely still trapped but “there are signs of life.”
The PSD said civil defense rescuers worked through the night to remove collapsed concrete roofs in their search for survivors, adding that eight people had been evacuated so far.
While officials attributed the collapse to poor foundations and weak supporting structures, residents told Arab News that they believed work on a new adjacent building had contributed to the disaster.
Hussam Najdawi from the Greater Amman Municipality said the building was nearly 50 years old.
He said the residents of four buildings around the collapsed property have been evacuated and taken to safe areas.
The official said technical teams from the municipality will assess the condition of old buildings in El-Luweibdeh, a major tourist attraction in Amman.
El-Luweibdeh is also a preferred neighborhood for foreign expatriates in Jordan.
Residents of the neighborhood told Arab News that real estate developers were constructing large residential buildings for foreign expatriates. One resident said the businesspeople were not “paying attention to the fact that the neighboring houses are very old and very fragile.”
Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh has ordered an investigation into the incident.
