Egypt building collapse kills 5
2008-07-11 11:53
Cairo - A three-storey building in Egypt's Nile delta collapsed and killed five people, including seven-year-old twins, the country's official MENA news agency reported on Friday.
Five other people were injured after the building, described as an "ancient" one in the Mansura area, crumbled late on Thursday.
Such incidents were relatively frequent in Egypt, where building regulations were often flouted and additional floors were added without permission.
Last December, 35 people were killed after a 12-storey building in Alexandria collapsed. Two years earlier, in the same city, the collapse of a six-storey building killed 19 people. Three extra storeys had been added illegally.
Tougher legislation against construction companies ignoring the law was introduced in 1996 after a building in Cairo's Heliopolis residential area caved in, killing 64 people.
- AFP