At least 21 people, including eight children, have died after a war-damaged residential building collapsed in Gaza City overnight. Dozens more are feared trapped under the rubble.

Local rescuers and medics said the six-storey building in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood came down in the early hours of Wednesday while families were sleeping inside.

Witnesses told the BBC the building had been left tilting dangerously after an Israeli air strike more than a year ago.

Despite the damage, displaced families had moved in because they had nowhere else to go. About 10 families were reportedly living in the block.

UN agencies and an Egyptian rescue team have joined the search for survivors, but officials say efforts are being slowed by a lack of heavy equipment.

Members of the Hamas-run Civil Defence said they initially had to dig with their bare hands.

“We are still hearing voices from under the rubble, so there is still hope to find people,” said Raed al-Dahshan, director of Civil Defence in Gaza City.

“The limited availability of shelter options forced residents to move into this building, believing it was safe. However, at one point it collapsed entirely, tragically crashing down on people as they slept.” A woman living in a tent nearby described the moment of collapse.

“It felt like an earthquake. There was a loud sound and I couldn’t stand up. Stones rained down on us and when I looked outside I saw a lot of dust,” Umm Mohammed Bakrun told the BBC.

“Within minutes, there were screams everywhere.” Another witness, Mansour Abu Mohammed, said the building fell “in a few seconds”, adding: “Every day, a stone or a few stones would fall from it, but the people inside couldn’t find anywhere else to live. I used to live next door to it and you could see that it was tilting to one side.”

Satellite imagery shows the area around the building was hit in the early weeks of the war, with visible damage to the structure first appearing in 2024.

[Source: BBC]