• Officials said inspections suggested a load bearing wall had been knocked down during illegal expansion work
• Happened a day after 2 died and 13 people were injured when an eight-story building collapsed in northern Egypt

Gobran Mohammed

CAIRO: At least nine people died on Monday when a five-story residential building in the Egyptian capital collapsed, the Cairo Security Directorate said. Rescue workers were continuing to search the rubble for survivors.

It happened in the Makkawi area of Hadayek El-Kobba neighborhood, north of central Cairo, a densely built area of informal housing.

Residents awoke on Monday to the sound of screams from passersby following the collapse. Civil Protection and police officers were dispatched to the site, along with ambulance crews and equipment to help search and remove the rubble.

Citing initial inspections of the site, representatives of Cairo governorate said illegal expansion work taking place on the first floor of the building, without a permit, had contributed to the tragedy. A load-bearing internal wall had reportedly been demolished, resulting in the collapse.

The governor of Cairo, Khaled Abdel Aal, said an engineering committee has been set up to investigate the incident. Adjacent buildings were evacuated, and the gas and electricity supplies to them were cut as a precaution until the search and rescue operation is complete and the rubble is removed. The Public Prosecution was taking statements from eyewitnesses.

Social Solidarity Minister Nivine El-Kabbag, in coordination with the governor, authorized the payment of 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,940) to the families those killed in the collapse, along with urgent aid for the injured.

Minister of Local Development Hisham Amna was said to be monitoring the response by the governorate, in coordination with executive agencies, facilities and the ambulance service, and efforts to clear the rubble and search for survivors.

The incident happened just a day after a 10-month-old baby and a 38-year-old man died and 13 people were injured when an eight-story building collapsed in the city of Rashid (also known as Rosetta) in Beheira governorate, northern Egypt.

In June, at least three people were killed when a 14-story apartment building collapsed in the northern coastal city of Alexandria, and three passersby were injured when two balconies failed in an old building in eastern Alexandria.

In February, two people were killed and 25 injured when a gas cylinder explosion demolished two houses. And in June 2022, at least six people died when a five-story building collapsed in Cairo, causing the partial collapse of two neighboring buildings.