Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Late Tuesday morning, one of the mud-brick houses in the historic city of Shibam, in Hadramawt Governorate, collapsed. This occurred days after significant cracks and damage appeared in its exterior walls, which had prompted the resident family to evacuate last week in anticipation of the danger.
The collapsed house, located in the city’s largest plaza—the Mosque Square—consisted of four mud-brick stories. According to local sources, the collapse did not result in any human casualties or material damage to surroundings.
Earlier this morning, under the direction of the district director, the local authority in the Shibam district had ordered the urgent demolition of the building after monitoring dangerous fissures that threatened its structural integrity. However, the house collapsed entirely just after a meeting held to discuss its status, before the demolition process could be carried out.
The city of Shibam Hadramawt, known internationally as the “Manhattan of the Desert,” is one of the oldest examples of vertical construction in the world, dating back to the 16th century. It has been listed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger since 2015 due to the continuous deterioration threatening its historic buildings.
