Two buildings collapsed yesterday in the el-Labban district of Alexandria, leaving 15 families homeless. Two nearby buildings have developed cracks. Mohamed Ibrahim, head of security in Alexandria, received a report from el-Labban police station stating that buildings number two and three in Ibn Atallah lane had collapsed. Civil defense and rescue forces rushed to the accident site and found one of the buildings, a three-storey building, to have totally collapsed, and the other partially collapsed due to the impact from the collapse of the first building. None of the residents was injured. Amr Ayoub, head of the prosecution office in el-Labban, gave orders for a committee of engineers to be formed to inspect the accident site. Ayoub also summoned district officials to find out why demolition orders issued for the two collapsed buildings had not been implemented. Residents of the collapsed buildings urged officials to intervene to provide them with safe housing. Most of the buildings in the area are on the verge of collapse, they said. Amal Hamdi, a resident in the area, said officials have made no promises and asked residents to wait one week until the district committee finishes its work. Ayman Mahmoud Saber, member of the local council for el-Gamarek district, said the collapsed buildings had a demolition order on them that was issued in 1971 but was not implemented because the residents refused to evacuate their homes. He added that the residents had signed papers saying they bore responsibility for their choice. Saber described most of the buildings in el-Labban as decrepit, with demolition or restoration orders on them that have never been implemented. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
