The death toll from a building that collapsed in Beirut rose to 25 late Monday, officials said, as rescue teams continued to work under heavy rain with only a slim hope of finding any survivors. Most of the dead were foreign workers living in Lebanon, said the head of the Red Cross operations at the scene, George Kattaneh. "Until now, 25 bodies have been recovered and we believe there are more buried under the building," Kattaneh told dpa. Among the dead was a 15-year-old Lebanese girl, a 73-year-old Lebanese man, as well as Sudanese, Egyptian and Filipino nationals who work in Lebanon. Earlier, Kattaneh said 12 people had been rescued and transferred to hospital for treatment. The six-story building collapsed in Ashrafiyeh, a neighborhood in eastern Beirut, Sunday night. Poor weather conditions added to the delay in rescue operations. "The rescue crews with their limited means managed to rescue some people, but the weather conditions made it very difficult for them to rescue more people," said a Civil Defence volunteer at the scene. Head of Civil Defence Brigadier General Raymond Khattar told dpa that more than 40 people were believed to be in the building when it collapsed.
