Abdul Hamid Karimi, a member of the government committee, said seven people were injured as rescue teams searched for people trapped under the rubble.

Two adjacent buildings collapsed in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing at least six people and injuring seven others, the chairman of the city council said.

Abdel Hamid Karimeh, speaking at a news conference in Tripoli on Sunday, did not say how many people might still be trapped in the rubble in the northern city of Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.

Search and rescue operations are underway, led by civil defense teams with support from the Lebanese Red Cross and emergency relief agencies.

Nearby residents also joined the rescue effort, rushing to help clear debris and open openings in collapsed buildings.

Internal security forces and Tripoli city police evacuated residential buildings near the collapsed buildings because they feared they would collapse amid the heavy deployment of military personnel, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. Eight injured people were said to have been rescued.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ordered all emergency services to be on high alert to assist rescue operations and provide shelter to residents of neighboring buildings, the Lebanese state news agency reported.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a statement that the government is fully prepared to provide housing subsidies to residents of all buildings that need to be evacuated.

“Given the gravity of this humanitarian disaster, which is the result of years of cumulative neglect, and out of respect for the lives of the victims, I urge everyone involved in politics in Tripoli and elsewhere not to exploit this horrific disaster for cheap and short-sighted political gain,” he said.

Lebanon’s infrastructure has suffered from decades of neglect, economic collapse, corruption and damage from conflict with Israel. Major problems include chronic power shortages, unreliable water supplies with pollution risks, and crumbling roads and buildings.