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.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Ros Russell)
epa11725716 Rescue workers search near the site of an Israeli airstrike which targeted the Baath party headquarters in Ras Al Naba'a neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon 17 November 2024. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, one person was killed and three others injured in the airstrike. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 3,450 people have been killed and over 14,650 others have been injured in Lebanon since the escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH