At least six people were killed, and seven others were injured when two adjoining buildings collapsed in the Lebanese city of Tripoli on Sunday, with more trapped under the rubble, the head of the municipal council said.

Abdel Hamid Karimeh, speaking at a press conference in Tripoli, did not say how many people might still be trapped under debris in the northern city’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood.

Earlier, the head of Lebanon’s civil defence rescue service said the collapsed buildings had 22 residents.

Rescue workers and residents had so far recovered three people alive from under the rubble, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.