Building collapse toll hits 23
27/12/2007 12:41  - (SA)  

Building collapse toll hits 20 Rescuers try to free survivors Woman rescued from rubble Egypt block collapse toll at 8 Egypt: 5 die in 11-storey crash Block of flats collapses in Egypt

Cairo - The death toll from the collapse of a 12-storey residential building in Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria rose to 23 on Thursday, security sources said.

Rescue workers had brought out three survivors from the rubble since Monday when the building collapsed, they said.

Authorities had said they thought 25 to 30 people were buried under the rubble after the building collapsed. The building disintegrated on Monday as construction workers carried out repairs on the first floor.

It was constructed as a seven-storey building in 1982 without a permit, authorities said. The owner obtained a permit later, but then illegally added five storeys.

Prosecutors had issued warrants for the arrest of a number of people, including the woman who owned the building. They had arrested the contractor responsible for the renovation work underway immediately before the collapse, the sources said.

Building collapses were common in Egypt because of lax building standards and poor maintenance. On Tuesday, also in Alexandria, at least five people were injured after a building partially collapsed, security sources said.

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