CAIRO – At least nine people were killed when a five-story residential building in Egypt’s capital fell on Monday, according to the Cairo Security Directorate. Rescue personnel were still searching the rubble for survival.
It happened in the Makkawi neighbourhood of Hadayek El-Kobba, north of central Cairo, in a heavily constructed region of informal housing.
Residents awoke Monday to the sound of passers-by screaming following the crash. Civil Protection and police personnel were sent to the scene, along with ambulance teams and equipment, to assist in the search for and removal of the rubble.
According to preliminary inspections of the site, representatives of the Cairo governorate indicated that unpermitted expansion work on the first level of the building contributed to the disaster. According to reports, a load-bearing interior wall had been destroyed, culminating in the collapse.
Cairo’s governor, Khaled Abdel Aal, announced the formation of an engineering commission to probe the incident. Adjacent buildings were evacuated, and gas and power were turned off as a precaution until the search and rescue operation was completed and the rubble was removed. Eyewitnesses were giving statements to the Public Prosecution.
In collaboration with the governor, Social Solidarity Minister Nivine El-Kabbag authorised the payment of 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,940) to the relatives of those died in the fall, as well as immediate relief for the injured.
Hisham Amna, Minister of Local Development, was claimed to be monitoring the governorate’s response, in conjunction with executive agencies, institutions, and the medical service, as well as efforts to clear the rubble and seek for survivors.
The tragedy occurred barely one day after an eight-story building fell in Rashid (also known as Rosetta) in Beheira governorate, northern Egypt, killing a 10-month-old baby and injuring 13 people.
In June, at least three people were killed when a 14-story apartment building in Alexandria’s northern coastal city of Alexandria collapsed, while three pedestrians were injured when two balconies in a historic structure in eastern Alexandria crumbled.