An apartment building in Cairo partially collapsed overnight, killing at least three people, Egyptian officials said on Monday.
By late morning, rescue workers were still searching for possible survivors trapped under the rubble of the two-storey building in the Roud El Farag district of the Egyptian capital.
A fire engine ladder was used as rescuers tried to enter the part of the building that was still standing.
The three dead were all from one family, the state-run Al-Ahram daily newspaper reported.
An injured 6-year-old child was pulled from under the rubble and taken to hospital, the officials said.
Police cordoned off the area, blocking access to onlookers and those who were apparently looking for relatives in the building.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the collapse. It is not uncommon for buildings to fall down in Egypt, where shoddy construction is widespread in shantytowns, poor districts and rural areas. In December, five people were killed when a block of flats collapsed in Alexandria.
With property at a premium in big cities such as Cairo and Alexandria, developers seeking bigger profits frequently flout planning permits. Extra floors are often added without proper permits.
The government has recently launched a crackdown on illegal construction across the country, jailing and fining people who break the law, and in many cases demolishing the buildings.
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Tesalam Aleik
Abdullah Al Ruwaished
(Rotana)
