Cairo Egypt Building Collapse: Unknown Number Of People Still Trapped Under Rubble, 16 Killed

Alexandria Egypt Building Collapse - A large Cairo structure has buckled in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving a yet to be identified number of people trapped and 16 others killed, Ahram.org has learned.

The collapse greatly resembles what took place in January 2013 when an Alexandria, Egypt building collapsed and killed several people as well.

Local reports that year revealed that the collapse left 28 people dead and an undisclosed number of people wounded.

Unfortunately, the Alexandria, Egypt building collapse was followed by another tragic incident when an edifice in Cairo slumped a few days later, killing three people.

Compared to the previous two - especially the Alexandria, Egypt building collapse incident - this new tragedy in Cairo is slightly weaker.

However, because many people were inside the building at the time of collapse this week, up to 16 people have died while seven were left injured and a couple more trapped in the rubble, AllAfrica.com reports.

As per a preliminary inspection of the site of the collapse, investigators found that the cause of the tragedy may be the illegal construction in the second floor of the building.

Local reports stated that the owner of the building has decided to add two extra floors to the structure without asking permission. Hence while some workers were busy working on the extra floors, a collapse became inevitable because of the renovation at the second floor.

The Cairo building is said have been inhabited by at least 25 people and only four out of six floors were occupied.

In the wake of the building's sudden destruction, at least four neighbouring structures have been asked to be evacuated as part of safety precaution, Sputnik News has learned.

Building collapses are not that uncommon in the country since safety standards in construction are more often than not neglected.As per a survey conducted by the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) in June revealed that 392 residential structures collapsed from July 2012 to June 2013, killing 192 innocent lives and leaving 824 families homeless.