You’ve all probably woke up to the news of six-storey aluminum factory that collapsed in Zouk Mosbeh. As I type this, reports are coming in of the three missing in the collapse – one has been located though it will take sometime to free him. The other two, both Indian nationals are still unaccounted for and are believed to be located on the ground floor of the building.
What I would like to highlight is the discrepancies between what is said and the pictures that we are receiving. Primarily this quote raises questions:
“We are also concerned about the surrounding buildings, which are all factories and are subject to continuous shaking and vibrations,” [Brigadier General Darwish] Hobeika said.
But then the same AFP article carries this photo:
From AFP: Isn't that a residential building?
Isn’t that a residential building adjacent to the factory that collapsed? How could all the surrounding buildings be factories when clearly the photo shows otherwise? Either Brigadier General Darwish (who is heading the rescue mission) was misquoted or that this picture is not of the collapse. What would be worse is that Brigadier General Darwish is not on the ground and has no idea what is happening.
You know, I was listening to a report on this on the radio..and the presenter said something to the effect of, “the cause of the collapse is still unknown,” Ummm why else would a building just suddenly collapse? Because it was not built according to code, if there is even a “code” here in Lebanon..and looking at this picture above..it kind of seems that was the case, does it not?
And yes, it does look like a residential building!
Apparently he (Brigadier General Darwish Hobeika) also told AFP:
“If there is ever an earthquake in the area, not one building would be left standing.”
How very comforting…
thank Jad for holding the Brigadier (or AFP?) accountable for not sticking to the facts!
Thanks guys for the great comments. I seriously believe that we have major PR issues when dealing with disasters. Remember the Ethiopian plane crash? There was so false statements and inaccurate comments – the whole thing was a mess. Apparently, no one has learned anything from that experience.
Imported from Facebook
I admit that i never heard of “Zouk Mosbeh” I do not know if I should be embarrassed to admit that, or if most of the rest of the world does not know where “Zouk Mosbeh” is either. What does matter is the tragedy of those innocent people who lost their lives. My symphony goes out to their families.