CAIRO: The number of fatalities from the collapse of a 12-storey building in Alexandria rose to 10 on Tuesday.
Rescue workers managed to save three people who were pulled out alive from the rubble as emergency workers continued their search using sledge hammers and circular saws.
The building was home to between 40 and 50 people but the accident happened in the morning after many residents had left for work or school.
Authorities speaking to terrestrial Channel 1 “Al-Beit Betak talk show Monday night said they expect to find more survivors, adding that one person stuck under the rubble called a relative from his cell phone.
Adel Labib, governor of Alexandria, said some workers had been renovating the first floor when the building suddenly tilted to one side and then collapsed.
Labib ordered the two buildings on either side of the ruin to be evacuated after parts of them also collapsed.
In a phone interview with “Al-Beit Betak, Labib said the building – which housed 36 apartments and was located in Al-Ramel district of Loran – is one example of many structures that are in violation of building regulations in Alexandria.
He added that there are currently 51 structures that contravene building laws, around 7,000 buildings in danger of collapsing and 12,000 others in breach of construction regulations.
Labib said that efforts to demolish these buildings were faced with strong opposition from residents, owners and investors in Alexandria’s real estate market.
“The families refuse to leave their homes, although the governorate can provide alternative housing for them . but they refuse to leave, Labib said.
Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud on Monday issued an arrest warrant for the owners of the collapsed building as well as for the estate agent in charge of restoration work on the building, as part of an investigation launched to determine the cause of the collapse.
The building was constructed in 1982 without a license, and the owners were repeatedly ordered to maintain it, most recently in 2002. However, no maintenance work was made since it was built, according to Dr Omayma Salah Al-Din, chair of an official body that supervises construction sites and development projects.
Hoda Mokhtar, press and public relations manager at the Alexandria governate, told Daily News Egypt that Labib has been closely following the developments in the tragic event on Monday and Tuesday after paying visits to “fellow Christians to wish them a merry Christmas.
Labib also told Al-Ahram daily newspaper that the governorate will pay LE 20,000 in compensation to the families of the victims and LE 10,000 to the injured survivors. -Additional reporting by AFP.
