A sudden collapse of a heritage building in central Cairo ... and the authorities are investigating
Five people were injured, on Saturday, when part of a heritage building collapsed in the center of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, according to a security source.
The source said that the authorities, who rushed to the site of the collapse of the building on Qasr El Nil Street near Tahrir Square, rescued 14 people, including passers-by, and took five to hospitals.
An investigation was opened to uncover the circumstances of the sudden collapse of the heritage building and its causes.
The Cairo governorate announced on its Facebook page that the building contained a number of shops and two apartments.
"The building is destroyed," an AFP correspondent said from the site of the collapse, expressing his fear that what was left of it would collapse.
Egypt often witnesses the collapse of buildings due to lax enforcement of public safety rules and building maintenance, as well as contractors violating building permits and skipping the permissible number of floors to increase their profits.
In July, large cracks were detected in a building in a suburb of Zamalek, near embassies, prompting the authorities to evacuate residents of the building, fearing its collapse.
In 2014, Cairo witnessed one of the worst disasters of building collapse, in an accident in which 19 people were killed.
Cairo includes a large number of buildings that are nearly 200 years old, and it contains a mixture of Islamic and European architecture, decorations and columns constructed in the neoclassical style.
Neglect and collapse affected many of Cairo's buildings on the list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
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- #Egypt,
- #Cairo,
- #Building collapses,
- #Heritage