CAIRO // At least 19 people were killed when an illegally extended seven-storey building collapsed in eastern Cairo yesterday, and several more are feared to be dead under the rubble.
Eight residents of the building in the Matariya district were pulled out alive.
Witnesses said the son of the building’s owner survived after leaping off a balcony.
Others who remain trapped in the rubble have been using their mobile phones to call their neighbours, pleading for rescue.
Bulldozers rolled through the alley leading to the collapsed building, removing large chunks of cement mingled with clothes, and bloodstained bedsheets.
Rescue workers and volunteers dug through rubble with their hands, searching for survivors.
Neighbours said workers were looking for mattresses, as most residents were asleep at 1am when the building collapsed.
Officials and neighbours claimed the owner had defied a court ruling issued five years ago and built three floors on top of the original structure.
Ali Abdel Fattah Ali, a government employee who also works in a nearby car repair shop, said he was inside with his back to the building when it began to fall.
“I didn’t even have the chance to turn,” a tearful Mr Ali said, white dust covering his face and hair. “We heard cracking, then it fell apart. A strong wave of air and dust engulfed all of us.
“A man with his daughter was calling me saying they were trapped in darkness. He said he sees nothing. I tried to call back but there was no answer.
“I don’t know what happened. His phone is still ringing.”
Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction is common in shantytowns, impoverished neighbourhoods and rural areas.
With a housing shortage and lax government oversight, developers frequently build without authorisation or permits.
The Matariya building collapse appeared to have been avoidable.
Neighbours said they won a court order to remove the illegal floors but local authorities, either through negligence or complicity, failed to execute the ruling.
The owner of the building died about six months ago, neighbours said.
Relatives of some of the victims said they saw cracks in walls and feared the building would eventually collapse.
Men from the district gave a list of area buildings with clear cracks in the exterior. They said they had filed complaints to the municipality to avert other disasters.
Abeer Ismail, 25, was at the scene calling out the name of her mother-in-law, who lived on the second floor.
Ms Ismail said she had last visited the building on Sunday and could tell it was unsafe.
“You could see the steel rods popping out of the walls and cracks covered the walls,” she said.
* Associated Press
