EGYPT: At least five people are killed after a building collapses in Alexandria

Record ID: 216291

  • Title: EGYPT: At least five people are killed after a building collapses in Alexandria
  • Date: 25th December 2007
  • Summary: (BN13) ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (DECEMBER 24, 2007) (REUTERS) SHOT OF RUBBLE FROM BELOW FIREMEN WALKING THROUGH RUBBLE CLOSEUP OF TOY IN RUBBLE VARIOUS OF CRANE DIGGING THROUGH RUBBLE (3 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 9th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAEAR8TYTKL8NS4Q3ZBZG6TL3AV
  • Story Text: At least five people are dead after a building collapses in Alexandria, Egypt. As many as 30 other people are buried under rubble.
    At least five people were killed Monday (December 24) when a 12-storey residential building collapsed in Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
    Rescue workers pulled the five bodies from the rubble and dug out two survivors, but as many as 30 other people remained buried and authorities expected the death toll to rise.
    State news agency MENA quoted Alexandria Governor Adel Labib at the scene of the collapse as saying a rescue operations room had been set up and local hospitals had been alerted to prepare for more injured.
    Labib added that authorities estimated that 25-30 people were still beneath the debris.
    Abdel Maguid Selim, director of Alexandria security, told reporters construction workers had been doing repairs on the first floor when the building suddenly tilted and collapsed.
    A judicial source told Reuters a commission had been established to investigate the collapse, and a warrant had been issued for the arrest of the woman who owned the building.
    The source added the owner had built a seven-storey building in 1982 without a permit and later secured a license, but had then illegally built an additional five storeys.
    According to MENA, authorities had issued at least two orders for renovation work to be done on the building, but it was not carried out.
    Streets leading to the site of the collapse were sealed off. Buildings on either side of the collapsed block suffered structural damage and were evacuated.
    Building collapses are frequent in Egypt because of lax building standards and poor maintenance.
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