BEIRUT: Funerals were held in Beirut Wednesday for 15-year-old Ann-Marie Abdel Karim and a Lebanese family killed in a building collapse over the weekend.

Weeping students bade farewell to Miss Abdel-Karim, the first victim of the building collapse disaster to be pronounced dead Sunday, as the procession bearing her coffin stopped at the school where she studied.

The procession, consisting of cars decorated with white ribbons and branches, then made its way to the disaster site before heading to St. Mary’s church where services were held for Abdel-Karim.

Shops and businesses in Ashrafieh shut down Wednesday in mourning for the victims. ABC Ashrafieh said it would close during the funeral and expressed its regrets over the painful incident. The Kataeb-run Voice of Lebanon also said it would honor the victims of Sunday’s building collapse by changing its regular radio programs between 12:00 and 3:00 p.m.

The nearly six-decade-old, seven-story building in the Fassouh neighborhood collapsed Sunday, killing 27 people. Twelve people were pulled out alive.

A similar procession was held for Tanious Naim and his three sons – Charbel, Jihad and Farhat.

A huge crowd bade farewell to the Naims as the procession carrying their coffins stopped at Sassine Square in Ashrafieh.

The procession then headed to Sacred Heart church in Badaro, where services will be held for the deceased men before burial in their hometown of Zahalta, Jezzine, in south Lebanon.

Ashrafieh MP Nadim Gemayel, who attended the funeral mass held for the Naims, said he has urged residents living in the building adjacent to the one that collapsed to evacuate.

“I have asked the families who live in the neighboring building not to return to the building because it is uninhabitable,” Gemayel told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.