Child among five killed in Egyptian building collapse

By Kareem El Damanhoury, CNN

(CNN) — At least five people, including a child, have died and four others were injured after a building collapsed in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on Monday, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

A fifth victim, identified as Mohamed Hussein, 28, was retrieved from the rubble Tuesday, Al-Ahram reported. Search operations continue.

Three others who died have been identified as Abdullah Mahfouz, 13, Mostafa Othman, 22, and Hamdy El-Sayed, 40, while another pulled from the rubble on Tuesday has not yet been named.

A total of 16 families lived in the 14-story building, which was built about 50 years ago, while other apartments were used by domestic tourists spending the summer in Alexandria, the city’s governor Mohamed El Sherif said.

One of the residents told reporters on site about the harrowing moments when her missing family members fell with the building around 8 a.m. local time on Monday.

“I placed my younger siblings under the couch as bricks were falling,” said the young woman in tears. “I went back and called for my mother to leave with me, she said she was coming. So, I walked a few steps forward to find the ceiling falling along with them [my mother and brother]. I was facing the sky and they were down.”

A live video posted on the city’s Facebook page showed civil defense units attempting to put out a small fire in the rubble on Monday.

Egypt’s Public Prosecution has issued an order to detain the owner of the collapsed 14th floor and a contractor for four days pending investigations over involuntary manslaughter and unauthorized construction charges. According to Al-Ahram, the contractor carried out the constructions on the top floor despite a demolition order.

About 7,000 old, inhabited buildings in Alexandria are at risk of collapse, Al-Ahram reported, citing a member of Egypt’s House of Representatives.

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