Egypt
13-story building collapsed in Alexandria
Egyptian civil defense members by the remains of the collapsed 13-story apartment building in Alexandria. photo
© Stringer/dpa
Many buildings in Egypt are built without official permits. The controls are lax, so collapses are almost inevitable.
A 13-story apartment building has collapsed in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria. The news channel Al-Arabiya showed firefighters in front of a mountain of rubble in a residential area on Monday. There was initially no information about possible fatalities or injuries. Local media reported that there was a supermarket on the ground floor of the house.
Alexandria’s governor Mohammed al-Sharif said a “vertical fissure” appeared in the building before it collapsed. The apartments were used as summer accommodation. Apparently there was no approval for the construction of the top floor, which is why there was already an order to have it removed.
It is not uncommon for buildings to collapse in Egypt. In the North African country, countless buildings are built every year without permits. Builders often violate technical safety requirements. The reason for this is also a rather lax supervision by the authorities. In recent years, the government has increasingly tried to take action against illegal construction.