Jabal Luweibdeh in shock after deadly building collapse

AMMAN — Residents of Jabal Luweibdeh are grappling with the shock of a residential building collapse that has claimed the lives of five people as of Tuesday night, as grief and panic pervade the vibrant neighbourhood.

Many people in the area learned of the disaster when the electricity in the neighbourhood was abruptly cut and clouds of dust filled the air.

Panicked people rushed to the scene in search of their loved ones, while others in the area received frantic calls from family and friends.

“After the electricity cut, it was quiet for a minute, and then minutes later, we heard sirens,” a Jordanian woman who was working close to the site at the time of the collapse told The Jordan Times on the condition of anonymity. 

 “I saw families begging to people, crying, asking to see and to know if their family members were alive or dead,” the woman added.

Surrounding the collapse, emergency aid workers and police officers frantically continued rescue efforts well into the early hours of Wednesday morning, as family members, friends, and people in the community congregated across the street to watch heavy machinery methodically remove pieces of the wreckage, grief and helplessness starkly evident among the crowd. 

Groups clustered together along the sidewalk across from the rubble, crying openly, and physically leaning on each other for support. One woman at the scene, who declined to give her name, remarked that they had been there “for hours”.

A group of workers sitting on the edge of the sidewalk near the scene told The Jordan Times on the condition of anonymity that nothing from the building could be salvaged; “it is all ruined”. 

“Certainly we feel upset,” noted Shaker, a resident of Weibdeh who preferred to go by his first name only. 

Shaker described the old residential buildings, characteristic of the Luweibdeh neighbourhood, as “unsafe”, and voiced his frustration with the situation.

Rubin Jamal, who lives on the same street as the collapsed building in Jabal Luweibdeh, described the atmosphere in the neighbourhood as “horrible”, noting that panic was visible “on everyone’s faces”.

“Weibdeh is a small community; the community here is very close to each other. Unfortunately, what happened today happened to our neighbours. We know the people, we know their kids, we know everything about them,” he told The Jordan Times.

“A lot of friends of mine have families there. I called one, and he said, ‘My wife and my boys are still there’, and after that, I couldn’t reach him. I don’t know what happened.”

Jamal also noted that very old buildings are a defining feature of the neighbourhood, but more must be done to ensure that the buildings are safe. 

“Today is a sad day and a bad day for Weibdeh. Today, we are saying goodbye to our neighbours,” Jamal added.