Eighteen dead in Cairo building collapse

Eighteen people died in a building collapse on Saturday morning in a popular area of ​​the Egyptian capital, the state newspaper said Al-Ahram. “The rescue teams managed to extract 18 bodies from the rubble,” the daily said. A previous assessment, provided by the governorate of Cairo, reported five dead and 24 wounded.

“The governorate crisis room was informed at 3 am of the collapse of a building consisting of a basement, a ground floor and nine floors” in the district of Gesr Suez, in the east of Cairo, the governorate wrote in a statement. “Khaled Abdel Aal, the governor, immediately went to the scene of the incident accompanied by civil protection forces,” he added. He ordered “the formation of an engineering committee” to inspect surrounding buildings and assess the impact of the incident.

Several buildings have collapsed in recent years in Egypt, causing many victims, due to their dilapidation and non-compliance with the legislation in terms of town planning. Saturday, a fire ravaged dilapidated shops near Zagazig station, according to the governorate of Charkiya (northeast), without causing any casualties.