At least 12 people died, as an 11-story building collapsed in Egypt’s second-largest city of Alexandria, reports Al-Arabiya. The building also caused three more nearby houses to tumble with it.
The incident took place in the western part of the coastal city, in Naser Al Dawla Street. Construction works at the first building to collapse were finished not long ago. Sixteen people have already been pulled out of the rubble, among them two children aged 7 and 5. All of them sustained various injuries and were sent to hospital, says Youm 7 news website. Witnesses say the building to crash first was home to four families and a bakery, reports Agence France Presse.A search and rescue operation is continuing at the scene. Police are also looking for the owner of the 11-story dwelling.Over the past years, Egypt has gone through several construction disasters, mainly caused by building violations or poor maintenance. In 2008, at least 11 people were killed in Alexandria as a four-storey building collapsed late at night.