Collapse of Amman buildings blamed on unlicensed extra floors, ‘soak pits’

AMMAN – Arbitrary construction and “soak pits” are the primary causes of the collapse of three buildings in Amman's Jofeh area, the Jordan National Building Council maintained on Saturday, an account challenged by residents. 

"The old buildings, which date back to the eighties, were incapable of tolerating the arbitrary construction of additional storeys throughout the years. The cesspools in the area made the situation even worse," Public Works and Housing Minister Sami Halaseh told The Jordan Times.

The council held an urgent meeting on Saturday with HRH Princess Sumaya, the interior and public housing ministers and Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji to discuss the collapses, and began an investigation into the incidents.

Authorities were initially notified on Thursday that part of a residential building in Jofeh collapsed. 

Reports said a young engineer from the area saw the cracks in one building and called the Civil Defence Department (CDD) afterwhich he managed to convince the residents to evacuate before the first building collapsed, while the CDD took care of evacuating hundreds from the surrounding buildings, with the help of police and social development officials.  

The concerned agencies evacuated dozens of families consisting of more than 380 individuals and provided them with alternative accommodation upon directives by His Majesty King Abdullah. 

While at the site, the rescue units also noticed that the surrounding buildings had “deep” cracks, prompting them to evacuate 350 people from two buildings adjacent to the one that collapsed. 

“The two evacuated buildings collapsed on Friday morning. We were fortunate that we took the decision to clear the buildings on the spot,” Social Ministry Spokesperson Fawaz Ratrout told The Jordan Times. 

“It was really scary when I saw the buildings collapse,” Adel, an eyewitness, who preferred to be called by his first name, told The Jordan Times.

Neighbours challenged the official accounts, saying that the faulty sewage system, despite constant complaints to municipal authorities, was the reason behind the disaster.  

“I live in the neighbourhood. This area has suffered from many problems in the past. The owners of these houses have been complaining for a very long time that there was a sewage leakage under the buildings and it kept reoccurring,” Adel said.

No injuries were reported and the families, who included landlords and tenants, were taken by the ministry to furnished apartments, with their basic needs taken care of in cooperation with CARE-Jordan and the Islamic Charitable Centre, according to Ratrout. 

King Abdullah on Thursday issued directives to Minister of Social Development Wajih Azaizeh and Health Minister Mahmoud Sheyyab to check on the site. 

A technical committee of members from the social development and public works ministries, the Public Security Department (PSD), the CDD and the Greater Amman Municipality was formed by Interior Minister, Ghaleb Zu’bi to investigate incident, while taking immediate action to ensure the safety of citizens. 

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported that Prime Minister Hani Al-Mulki called Zu’bi as he was chairing the meeting and directed the officials to carry out a scan of all areas in Amman to detect any similar threat, as a step to conduct such a probe nation-wide.

The council said the collapsed buildings were old and that additional storeys had been arbitrarily added over the years, according to Halaseh, who added that the total number of buildings evacuated in the area reached 17. 

He highlighted that cesspools in the neighbourhood contributed to the collapse, saying that participants at the meeting called for an immediate study of the location.

During the meeting, PSD Director Lt. Gen. Talal Kofahi blamed officials for allowing citizens to build five and six-storey buildings in Jofeh, saying that many areas in Amman suffer from arbitrary construction and are in need of intervention. 

Residents of the same buildings insisted that the property was duly licensed and there were no additional storeys.

In a statement, the Jordan Engineers Association said it is committed to putting all its expertise at the disposal of the concerned authorities in order to identify the reasons behind the Jofeh incident. 

Several charity societies on Saturday provided support and donations to the families affected by the collapsing incident and the other evacuees, Ratrout said in remarks later Saturday.