Scene from the collapsed building
Gaza shelter collapse kills 11, traps 100
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- The building had been damaged by an ‘Israeli’ airstrike.
- Rescuers dig through rubble with makeshift tools to rescue trapped residents, almost half of whom are children.
At least 100 Palestinians remain trapped beneath the ruins of a residential building in Gaza City, more than half of them children, according to a civil defence team that spoke to Al Jazeera as search efforts entered a critical phase.
The building collapsed at around 1am local time (22:00 GMT), while most of its residents( all displaced families with nowhere else to shelter), were asleep inside.
The structure had already been partially damaged in an earlier ‘Israeli’ attack, but like tens of thousands of other Gazans living in unsafe, war-battered buildings, those inside had no alternative shelter available to them.
Death toll climbs as search continues
The Palestinian Civil Defence said the confirmed death toll has risen to 11, including five children.
Rescue teams have pulled 12 survivors from the debris alive, while dozens of others remain unaccounted for.
Civil defence sources told Al Jazeera that as many as 100 people could still be buried beneath the wreckage, with children making up at least half of that number.
Part of a wider crisis
This collapse is not an isolated incident. Rescue teams in Gaza have repeatedly warned that war-damaged buildings remain at constant risk of caving in, whether from the stress of previous strikes, weather, or simply the passage of time on unstable structures.
Aid organisations and Gaza's civil defence have for months appealed for the entry of heavy excavators, protective equipment and search gear, saying that without it, recovery operations that could take weeks may instead drag on indefinitely, and that the risk to families still living in damaged buildings will persist as long as they are left with no safer alternative.
As of the latest update, search and rescue operations at the site were ongoing, with civil defence teams warning that the number of dead and injured could rise as more of the rubble is cleared.
