The collapse of a fourth dilapidated house in the Al-Jamea District in Southern Jeddah, in less than 45 days, has prompted concerned residents to call on the authorities to deal quickly with these “time bombs”. This refers to more than 6,000 dilapidated houses registered by the mayoralty in the district. Okaz has learnt that the house collapsed when no-one was at home, so no casualties were reported. Civil Defense teams had rushed to the site after receiving a report on the incident. According to eyewitnesses, residents in Al-Jamea District heard a loud crash and went out to see what had happened. All they saw was dust rising from the house, where a large part had collapsed. Many rushed to the site to look for trapped survivors under the debris. But the owners of the house, who were just a few meters away, confirmed that there was nobody in the house because they were visiting relatives in the district. Capt. Abdullah Al-Amri, Civil Defense Spokesman in Makkah, said three Civil Defense rescue teams rushed to the scene but did not report any dead or injured. As a precautionary measure, Al-Amri said the rescue teams evacuated the residents of the neighboring houses and disconnected the power supply from some houses in the district, in addition to the collapsed house. They also cordoned off the entire site so that the authorities could remove the debris.
