At least 10 people have been pulled out dead from under the rubble of a five-storey building which has collapsed in Syria.
Syrian media announced on Sunday that children and women died as a result of the collapse in the Sheikh Maqsood neighbourhood of Aleppo city, in the country's northwest.
According to local information, there were at least seven families, totalling around 30 people, living in the building; many of whom are still stuck under the rubble.
The rescue team were able to retrieve an elderly man who has been rushed to hospital, as well as a 20-day-old baby.
Search operations are still ongoing amid the rubble in hope of finding more people.
The Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood is home to many internally displaced people from Afrin who have fled human rights violations.
Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, was the centre of very fierce fighting during the height of the war. The city, which became a symbol of Syria’s uprising, was under brutal siege by government forces.
Between February and April 2016, more than 83 civilians were killed by the attacks and a Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman accused rebels of causing 1,000 civilian deaths and injuries.
One man told Amnesty: “All I remember was the walls collapsing and hearing an explosion. We got injured - I had shrapnel in my hands and legs […] We live […] very far away from the frontline. There are no checkpoints close by or any other military points.”
Because of all of this, the infrastructure in the neighbourhood is still reeling from the effects of war thus causing many buildings to collapse.
Many buildings in Aleppo were completely destroyed or damaged during Syria’s 11-year conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.
In September of last year, a building collapse in Aleppo killed at least 11 people, including three children, the Syrian state television reported.
