8 Killed, 44 Injured In Cairo Building Collapse

Hopes to find survivors were boosted when rescue teams freed two firefighters trapped under the rubble, the Doha-based newscaster added.

The building collapsed when firefighters were trying to put out a fire, which neighbors said started in a cellar where flammable material had been stored, Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency (MENA) said.

The blaze caused several explosions, possible of gas containers. Most residents had been evacuated after the fire broke out.

Fireman Nasser Zakari told Reuters news agency the building had collapsed about one-and-a-half hours after a blaze broke out and after evacuating its residents.

He said the fire began in a plastics storeroom in the building’s lower floors.

Earlier, Cairo security director Nabil El-Azzaby told Reuters the incident had killed two soldiers and two civilians.

Egyptian rescue teams worked on Tuesday to free 11 people trapped under the rubble, mostly policemen and firefighters, who had been helping to evacuate the building.

A bulldozer slowly cleared slabs of concrete from part of the site and ambulances waited to take casualties for treatment.

Rescue workers hammered at the wreckage with pneumatic drills, working toward areas where they suspected people could be trapped, Reuters said.

Cairo Governor Abdel Raheem Shehata told MENA that an order for the two-decade-old building’s demolition had been issued in1992 .

Permission had only been granted for four of its levels. A further seven had been added illegally, he said.

Such collapses happened several in Egypt, where many buildings are built without authorization or normal checks, while many others have simply fallen into neglect.

Greedy building’s owners often add unauthorized floors to existing structures, endangering their stability.