Nov 25, 2014

Egypt: Fifteen killed as block of flats collapses in Cairo

Rescue crews search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed block of flats in Cairo (25 November 2014) Investigators are still probing the cause of the overnight building collapse
 
A block of flats has collapsed in Egypt's capital, Cairo, killing at least 15 people, officials say.
Seven people were also injured when the eight-storey building in the western suburb of Matariya collapsed overnight.
Emergency services chief Gen Mamdouh Abdul Qader said rescue workers were searching through the rubble for 15 people who were believed to be trapped.
Building collapses happen regularly in Egypt due to illegal construction, and poor enforcement of regulations.

Gen Abdul Qader told the AFP news agency: "We don't yet know the cause of the accident, but we have been told that two storeys were recently added totally illegally."
 
Rescuers cut through steel reinforcements as they search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed block of flats in Cairo (25 November 2014) Deadly building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt
The residents of four nearby buildings have been evacuated as a precaution.
In January 2013, the collapse of an eight-storey block of flats in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria left 28 people dead.

BBC