Rescue workers in Tripoli are racing against time to extract residents trapped beneath the rubble of a residential building that collapsed two days ago, a grim reminder that Lebanon's infrastructure crisis continues to claim victims even in the absence of war.
The collapse in Lebanon's second-largest city marks the latest casualty of a state apparatus that has essentially ceased to function. While the immediate cause of the structural failure remains under investigation, the incident reflects a broader pattern of neglect that has left buildings throughout the country dangerously compromised.
In this region, today's headline is yesterday's history repeating.
The building collapse comes as Lebanon continues to navigate what the World Bank has described as one of the world's worst economic crises since the mid-19th century. The country's financial meltdown, which began in 2019, has devastated public services and left municipalities without resources for basic infrastructure maintenance or building inspections.
According to local reports, residents remain trapped beneath the debris as rescue operations enter their third day. The slow pace of recovery efforts highlights the depleted state of Lebanon's emergency services, which have been gutted by the same economic collapse that allowed the building to deteriorate in the first place.
This isn't a story that started yesterday. Lebanon's building stock has been aging without adequate maintenance since the end of the civil war in 1990. The country's construction boom of the 1990s and 2000s was marked by corruption and lax enforcement of building codes. Many structures were built with substandard materials or modifications that compromised structural integrity.
The economic crisis has accelerated this decay. With the Lebanese pound having lost more than 95 percent of its value since 2019, building owners lack the resources to maintain their properties. Municipalities cannot afford to conduct safety inspections. The state has essentially abdicated its regulatory role.
What makes this collapse particularly tragic is that it occurred not during conflict but during what passes for peacetime in contemporary Lebanon. The country's infrastructure is failing not from bombardment but from the slower violence of institutional collapse and economic devastation.
The incident in Tripoli follows a pattern of infrastructure failures across Lebanon. In recent years, grain silos have collapsed, bridges have become unsafe, and the electricity grid has ceased to function reliably. Each failure reveals the same underlying reality: the Lebanese state has lost the capacity to maintain the basic systems that sustain modern life.
For residents of Tripoli, already Lebanon's poorest major city, the building collapse represents yet another blow to a community that has absorbed a disproportionate share of the country's suffering. The city, which sits near the Syrian border, has also absorbed waves of refugees while receiving minimal support from a bankrupt central government.
As rescue operations continue, the collapsed building in Tripoli stands as a monument to state failure—a failure measured not in policy documents or economic indicators, but in concrete, rebar, and the lives of those trapped beneath the rubble.
This didn't start yesterday. But without fundamental reconstruction of Lebanon's governance and economy, tomorrow will bring more of the same.
