Thousands bid farewell to victims of Aleppo’s building collapse
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Thousands of people of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods in Aleppo gathered on Monday to pay their respect for the victims who lost their lives in a building collapse in Sheikh Maqsoud a day earlier.
A local source told North Press that rescue teams were able to recover the last body from the rubble this afternoon, making the final toll 16 dead and two wounded.
Thousands gathered in front of Khalid Fajir Hospital in Sheikh Maqsoud and then set off in a funeral procession towards a cemetery in west of the neighborhood.
The inhabited five-floor building in Sheikh Maqsoud collapsed after Sunday midnight. Rescue teams did not finish search and recovery operations until this afternoon.
The incident drew widespread grief among the area’s residents, with many people calling it the “the Sheikh Maqsoud disaster.”
The Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian government has imposed a siege on the two neighborhoods for nearly three months, preventing the entry of fuel, food products, baby formula, and medications to both.
The two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods are predominantly resided by displaced people of Afrin who left their hometown following the Turkish invasion of the city in January 2018.
The General Council of the two neighborhoods declared Monday a mourning day, which means shops and public institutions will remain shut during the day.