Seven-year-old boy killed in building collapse
A seven-year-old boy was killed and at least 17 other people were injured when a six-story apartment building collapsed today in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.
The apartment building fell onto a wall housing a school next door, where at least 20 women were standing, waiting to collect students who were finishing exams. Some of them were believed to still be trapped under the piles of concrete and metal.
A police official said the building’s owner had added three extra floors to the building in violation of the law, which he said caused the collapse.
The collapse occurred in one of Alexandria’s most crowded districts, known as al-Raml Station.
Building collapses are common in Egypt, often caused by shoddy construction or unauthorised building of extra floors. Critics blame lax government control and supervision for the continued practice.
