Cairo [Egypt], July 18: A five-storey apartment building collapsed on Monday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, leaving at least 15 people dead and five injured, authorities said, as rescuers continued to search through the rubble.
Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighbourhoods and rural areas.
The state-run MENA news agency said rescue teams pulled bodies from the wreckage and sent four survivors to a hospital following the collapse in Cairo's Hadaeq el-Qubbahneighbourhood, roughly 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the city centre.
Cairo's deputy governor, HossamFawzi, initially said 12 people were killed and that efforts continued to find two missing people.
Following an initial investigation, Egypt's Public Prosecutor said the collapse was likely caused by one of the ground floor residents who removed a number of walls during earlier maintenance work. The male resident was arrested and is being questioned, it said.
The head of the Administrative Prosecution Authority, Hafez Abbas opened an urgent investigation into the collapse of the five-story building.
A team from the Administrative Prosecution Authority inspected the scene of the incident to determine the administrative responsibility in the incident.
Investigators and civil protection forces moved to the scene of the incident to extract the deceased and the injured from under the rubble.
Egypt's Ministry of Social Solidarity said it would give 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,940) to the families of the nine victims. The ministry also said it would deliver aid to the injured and was monitoring the damage to nearby properties.
Police forces cordoned off the area as rescue teams combed the rubble in search of possible survivors, according to local reports.
Meanwhile, two neighboring buildings have been evacuated until municipal authorities examine their safety.
The accident just happened a day after two buildings collapsed in Alexandria and Beheira governorates in northern Egypt, killing five people and wounding 11 others.
The government has tried to crack down on illegal building in recent years after decades of lax enforcement. Authorities are also building new cities and neighborhoods to rehouse those living in at-risk areas. Building collapses are common in Egypt due to poor construction standards in many areas.
Source: Qatar Tribune
