At least three dead in Egyptian building collapse

CAIRO – The collapse of a 14-storey apartment building in the coastal city of Alexandria in northern Egypt killed at least three people, authorities said on Tuesday.

The high-rise building collapsed early Monday, and initial reports said eight people were missing under the rubble.

The city council confirmed on Tuesday that three bodies had been recovered from the rubble, but did not say if anyone else was missing. Two people were injured in the collapse, but have since been released from hospital.

It was also not immediately known what caused the collapse. Such incidents are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction is rife in slums, poor urban areas and rural areas.

The city’s governor, Mohamed Al-Sharif, said a search is underway at the site and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the collapse.

Most of the apartments in the building are rental properties used by vacationers during the summer season, the Alexandria Governorate said Monday.

With real estate in major cities like Alexandria and Cairo, developers chasing bigger profits regularly violate building permits and often add extra floors to buildings without permission.

In February, six people were killed in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour after cooking gas cylinders exploded in the basement of a four-story building, causing the entire building to collapse.

Egyptian authorities have cracked down on illegal construction in recent years, moving residents from unsafe homes and slums to newly built cities in many places.

Building permit violators have also been imprisoned and in many cases illegally constructed buildings have been destroyed.