Five workers injured in partial building collapse in central Erbil

ERBIL, Iraq — A section of a mixed commercial and residential building in central Erbil collapsed on Thursday evening, leaving five workers with minor injuries, the Erbil Civil Defense Directorate said. Directorate spokesman Shahwan Said said the operations center received a report at 9:30 p.m. that a building had come down in the city. Rescue teams reached the site within half an hour and brought the situation under control, Said said. The workers trapped under the debris were retrieved and handed over to medical teams before being transferred to a hospital. The collapsed building is located in the Gulan neighborhood, number 120, across from Manara neighborhood on the opposite side of the New Langa Bazaar, according to local reporting. Said said the Civil Defense team would remain at the site to assess the cause of the collapse and the condition of the structure, noting that the directorate is the body responsible for building permits. No further details were immediately available.