A damaged residential building collapsed in Gaza City on Wednesday, killing at least six Palestinian children and trapping dozens of people under the rubble. Rescue workers kept searching through the rubble as news of the disaster from the ground showed that casualties were likely to be higher.
Gaza civil defense workers said at least 16 people, including five children, died in the collapse, and 14 more were still trapped under the rubble and 14 more were lost or injured, Reuters reported. About 100 people were thought to be trapped under the rubble. The number of deaths also varied depending on the number of people rescued when the rescue was still ongoing, showing the fast-paced situation at the site.
The incident took place in a seven-storey apartment building in Gaza City. This structure had already been damaged in the Israeli-Hamas war and was used as a shelter by displaced Palestinian families who had few alternatives.
War-Damaged Building Collapses As Families Seek Shelter
The building was estimated to have housed around 10 families. Many residents had moved into damaged buildings because of the severe shortage of safe housing throughout Gaza.
Gaza civil defence officials said rescuers were still hearing voices from beneath the rubble and were hopeful some of them might be pulled out alive. Emergency workers and residents scrambled to clear concrete and debris from the rubble and search for people trapped inside, with video from the scene showing.
Gaza:
— shoko 007 (@SYaacobi) September 16, 2026
5 dead, including children, 13 injured, and more than 60 civilians missing under the rubble of a building that collapsed along with its occupants after being damaged during the war, in the industrial area southwest of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/LkFbt2CpEA
One major concern is the building's previous damage. Most of Gaza’s residential infrastructure has been destroyed and damaged due to the conflict, and there are many displaced people with few options for housing.
The Reuters report says some 2,000 damaged buildings in Gaza are still inhabited by families. Hundreds of buildings in the country are also at risk of collapse, officials warn, as weather and winter rains pile pressure on already weakened ones.
That collapse therefore shows us more than one event. Many of these families may live in a damaged building but they have no way to find where to live outside.
Rescue operation hampered by lack of equipment.
Emergency crews faced great difficulty in reaching those buried under the rubble, and rescue workers and civilians had to dig through the rubble by hand in some cases without access to heavy machinery, Reuters reported. UN agencies and Egypt’s relief authorities also provided assistance in the search and rescue efforts.
Emergency responders in Gaza, where massive destruction has left huge quantities of rubble, are now facing an acute shortage of equipment.
The UN has warned of the dangers of people living in partially damaged structures. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the incident demonstrates the challenges for families who have no safe shelter.
Palestinian and UN officials have attributed shortages of heavy equipment partly to restrictions on bringing machinery into Gaza. Israel says restrictions are meant to prevent equipment from being diverted for military purposes.
This collapse is still under investigation. The building had suffered war damage, but the immediate cause of the collapse has not been independently established.
Children among victims as search continues
The presence of children among those killed in the incident has added to the tragedy as rescue teams were still searching for survivors under the concrete.
Al Jazeera reported that the footage showed rescue workers pulling young children out of the rubble and that people working at the scene were with civil defence crews. Witnesses heard cries for help from underneath the collapsed structure.
The final death toll is still uncertain because rescue operations are still ongoing. Different reports have given different numbers as bodies are recovered and more information is available.
The collapse also comes at a time of continuing humanitarian concerns in Gaza even after the ceasefire has halted fighting in areas of large-scale fighting. More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began, Gaza health officials said, while Israel has accused Hamas of violating the agreement and Hamas has claimed Israel is violating that agreement.
The danger to residents living in damaged buildings is immediate. Rescuers continue to clear rubble, and families throughout Gaza have to find shelter in an environment where many structures have already been weakened by years of conflict.
