Cairo Apartment Building Collapse Kills 13, Injures 4

At least 13 people died after an apartment building collapsed in Cairo’s Hadaeq al-Qubba district on Monday, 17 July. Four more were transported to a hospital due to their injuries, and search efforts are underway to recover missing persons.

Cairo’s Deputy Governor Hossam Fawzi said the collapse was due to a ground floor resident removing several load-bearing walls during maintenance work. The man has been detained and the collapse is currently under investigation.

Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity announced that it would grant the families of the victims EGP 60,000 (USD 1,940) each, as well as monitor damage to nearby properties.

This comes less than a month after a deadly building collapse in Alexandria’s El Montazah district killed 10 people, and similar building collapses in the Beheira governorate and Alexandria’s Bakous district killed four and two people, respectively.

Egyptian construction projects have been known to ignore regulation, and building collapses are common. Buildings were regularly built to dangerous heights without proper licensing, and corruption and bribery are rampant within the construction industry, according to the BBC.

In 2020, President Abdelfattah el-Sisi stated that building violations are more dangerous than terrorism. More than 30,000 illegally built buildings were demolished, however many were left homeless as a result.

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