JEDDAH: Four persons were rescued from the rubble of a 150-year-old house in Old Jeddah that collapsed all of a sudden Friday night. The four expatriates were trapped for six hours after the floor of the upper apartment of the three-story building collapsed onto the four-by-four meter shop on its ground floor. The Civil Defense cordoned off the site and began removing debris in search of the four, and local press reported that Prince Mish'al Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, and Hani Abu Ras, Mayor of Jeddah, were in continual contact with emergency services during the rescue operations. When the four were located they were provided with oxygen and taken to hospital by ambulance. One of the rescued persons, a Pakistani man, later said that he had suffered no serious injuries. “I've spoken to family and relatives back home to reassure them that I'm okay,” he said. Okaz/Saudi Gazette also spoke to the owner of the building, who said he had approached the Jeddah Mayoralty 25 years ago to have the 150-year-old building demolished and rebuilt anew, but that his request was turned down. “The person who had been living in the third-floor apartment which collapsed left it without warning two years ago, leaving his belongings inside,” he said. “I tried to locate him, but couldn't find him.” The state of buildings in the Al-Balad District - now officially known as Historic Jeddah - and neighboring areas, has been of increasing concern to authorities. Last year the Mayor's Office tasked an engineering firm to perform architectural surveys on some 1,000 old buildings feared vulnerable to collapse in the zone. A municipality official said at the time that a failure on the part of building owners to perform repairs and maintenance was the main cause of their state of dilapidation. He said the mayoralty places stickers on old buildings advising owners to contact the authorities immediately. “Sometimes the stickers are ignored, and sometimes simply removed,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. “We have informed building owners of the danger to their tenants, as many of the structures are liable to collapse at any time, but most of them do not take the issue seriously enough.” The poor response is further complicated by ownership issues, with some buildings belonging to Saudis, some to foreigners, and others of which owners are unknown. “We have tried many times to locate the owners of those buildings, but have been unsuccessful,” he said.
