HORRIBLE

16 Die After Five-Story Building Collapses in Aleppo

The Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood of Aleppo is still under the control of Kurdish forces amid Syria’s 11-year civil conflict.

At least 16 people are dead, including one child, after a five-story residential building housing seven families collapsed in the Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood of Aleppo, according to Syrian state news agency SANA, while another four individuals are injured. Rescue teams consisting of firefighters, dust-covered residents and mechanical excavators spent hours working to dig survivors out of the rubble on Sunday. Police suspect water damage from leaks in the base of the building as the culprit of the collapse, according to SANA. Although Aleppo was reclaimed by Syrian forces in the country’s 11-year civil conflict, some neighborhoods, like Sheikh Maksoud, are still under the control of Kurdish forces. In a statement, Syrian Democratic Forces Commander Mazloum Abdi condemned the policies of the Syrian government, “which for years prevented the entry of basic materials to the neighborhood and prevented any efforts to restore life and stability to it.”