At least seven people were killed, Al Jazeera reported, and at least eight others injured when an eight-story residential building collapsed in Mamora, eastern Alexandria early Wednesday. Civil Defense forces recovered two bodies from the rubble and rescued eight injured people. Efforts are ongoing to find other survivors, and 10 ambulances have been deployed to the site. Seven of the injured have been taken to Toson and Abu Qir Hospitals. Mohamed al-Sharkawy, the Alexandria Health Ministry's undersecretary, said, "The numbers of the deceased and injured are expected to increase, because the building was crowded with residents, and dozens are still under the rubble." Witnesses at the site speculated that the building collapse may have been due to a faulty sewer system nearby, which leaked water into the ground around the building's foundation. Witnesses added that 24 families lived in the building, which was built five years ago. State-run news agency MENA quoted Alexandria Governor Mohamed Abbas as saying while visiting the site that the building has been built without a license. Alexandria Governorate has seen several building collapses over the past few years. Failure by local authorities to execute demolition orders on time and the unauthorized construction of additional floors are the usual reasons for catastrophic building collapses, which Egypt has witnessed an increasing number of in recent years. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
