In Alexandria, an 11-storey building turned to rubble, claiming the lives of at least 19 people, Ameera Fouad reports from the coastal city Inhabitants of Al-Gomrok district, west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, were awakened by a nightmare on Saturday night when an 11-storey building collapsed in ruins. Making matters worse, the building, which was situated in 48 Al-Kabw Al-Arabi Street, destroyed three neighbouring buildings. Each of the three buildings comprises four storeys. At least 19 people died and nine were injured, seven of whom were transferred to the University of Alexandria's central hospital. Until Al-Ahram Weekly went to print, emergency services were still digging through the rubble in search of survivors or bodies. The owner of the building has been arrested for ignoring previous safety warnings. The head of Alexandria's security directorate told local media that local building owners were criminally responsible for ignoring official safety warnings and refusing to repair their properties. Families and neighbours were first to rescue the victims because firefighters and ambulances were late. Mohamed Younis, 51, witnessed the tragedy. "At around 9pm on Saturday, I was in a nearby café with some friends after a long tiring working day when all of a sudden we felt like there was a strong earthquake. We felt the ground shaking under our feet," Younis recounted. "Our coffee cups and tea glasses were dropping and dust was seen everywhere to the extent that we couldn't see anything for a quarter hour. We could only hear a boom after a boom after another boom. Dust and dirt with an earthy smell and cracks of destroyed remains were what we could feel or hear." Younis added, "when we were finally able to see, it was a nightmarish scene. It felt like seeing the end of the world. Four whole buildings had collapsed one after the other in no time. People were speeding out of the building site." Younis continued, "we were very afraid any other building would fall over our heads. Some phoned the ambulance, some phoned the Armed Forces rescue line, others phoned the police. It was such a crazy time. We didn't dare go through the rubble except when we felt a little bit safe. As we heard the screaming and the yelling of families, we tried our best and some brave young youth went through these buildings and rescued a lot. No one could imagine how many people the youths rescued from absolute death that day. They sacrificed their own lives to save the lives of others they didn't know. "What really angers me was seeing the ambulance and the fire fighters arriving two hours after the incident. We all know that it was very hard for these large trucks to pass through very narrow alleyways but they should have come earlier. Maybe lives would have been saved." Selim El-Hawari, the spokesperson of the 6 April activist movement in Alexandria, told Al-Ahram Weekly: "It was a total disaster by all means exemplified and demonstrated by the very late entrance of the city rescue teams whether it was the ambulance or the city authorities. Families and neighbours saved lives, and they were the very same ones who carried dead bodies out of the rubble. How can a building cause the fall of three others? Four collapses should be an alarm bell for all governorate officials to stop such wildcat buildings. The thing is we have been warning about such a disastrous outcome many times during the past year. Something must be done now and not later," El-Hawari added. Following the catastrophe, Alexandria Governor Osama El-Fouli submitted his fifth resignation in less than 11 months on the grounds that the city officials and the police authorities were the key reason behind buildings falling nearly every week in the northern part of Alexandria. El-Fouli told the press last Sunday that governorate officials and police officers are not cooperating with him to stop such disasters. Nevertheless, such statements did not prevent the families in Al-Gomrok from attacking the governor, an act which caused the governor to faint for a short period of time. Since the 25 January Revolution there has not been a city like Alexandria in which construction and engineering projects have been breached. Not only have newly constructed buildings been falling over the heads of innocent families, but many old buildings have been collapsing as a result of such illegally constructed towers. Villas have been demolished in both the most elite and the most meagre areas. Bulldozers are being heard late in the middle of the night doing their own illegitimate business. A total breach of all construction ethics and engineering morals has been made. Contractors of such buildings are playing tricks, fooling others and destroying a city's heritage and façade. None were caught or arrested till now despite the collapse of more than 100 buildings. One of the icons in engineering in Alexandria, Sadeq Hefzi, former chairman of the Egyptian Maintenance Co, says, "what happened last Saturday is not merely a disaster. It is a cataclysm to build a building on only 35 metres, consisting of simply one room, a ladder and a bathroom. I can't really believe that on such a narrow space 11 floors were being constructed with of course no licence and no paperwork or even an engineering outline. "The problem moreover is that such an area is overpopulated and its streets are narrow alleys which can barely let a car pass by. Such a noisy crowded milieu prevented all rescue equipment from reaching the scene. "I think everyone is responsible. Everyone should be found guilty -- all executive city officials, the governor, the district officials, and all politicians who are blindfolded. Even syndicates like the Engineering Syndicate dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood should be accused of leaving these false contractors and fake builders to bring down an ancient city and cause the death of more than 100 people in less than two years. "The solution, as far as I'm concerned, should be an engineering committee which will check on all buildings that have been constructed since the revolution. Bulldozers should be dedicated to getting rid of both legal and illegal buildings to set things right again. As for those constructed legally, they should be put in the hands of the government for public usage. Finally, our governor is not fit for a large city like Alexandria either before or after the revolution," Hefzi added.
