Building collapse in Egypt claims at least 12 lives

Authorities assert that a tenant’s removal of many walls during maintenance led the building to collapse.

In Cairo, the capital of Egypt, a five-story apartment building fell on Monday, causing at least fifteen fatalities and several injuries, according to local media. To find people trapped in the wreckage, rescue operations are under progress.

According to the Egypt Independent, emergency personnel that arrived on the site in the Hadayek el Kobba neighbourhood, around three kilometres from Cairo’s centre, have retrieved bodies as well as four survivors. For medical attention, the injured have been taken to a hospital.

The government-run MENA news agency said that authorities had ordered the evacuation of a nearby structure.

The Administrative Prosecution Authority of Egypt’s Hafez Abbas has mandated an investigation to ascertain what caused the tragedy.

According to the Associated Press, quoting Cairo’s deputy governor, Hossam Fawzi, an initial investigation found that one of the ground floor occupants who had taken down many walls during earlier maintenance work was responsible for the collapse. The suspect has been apprehended and will be investigated, according to Fawzi.

While the damage to neighbouring houses is being examined, the nation’s Ministry of Social Solidarity made a payment of 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,940) to each of the relatives of the deceased as well as assistance for the injured.

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Building collapses are widespread in the country of North Africa.

According to many media sources, two building collapses occurred on Sunday in the northern Egyptian governorates of Alexandria and Beheira, resulting in the deaths of five persons and the injury of eleven others.

In the port city of Alexandria last month, a 13-story apartment building collapsed, killing at least 10, according to officials.