ALEXANDRIA - The death toll in the collapse of a clothing factory in Egypt's northern port city of Alexandria has doubled to at least 26, security officials said Wednesday. "The victims include a civil defence worker, as more corpses are expected to be pulled out from under the rubble," the officials added. Ten people were injured in the collapse, including the owner of the factory, that happened on Sunday, blamed on damage from heavy rains, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) had reported. Outside a morgue in Alexandria, relatives of the dead protested against what they called prolonged procedures to get the bodies. "We had been told to go to the police station then to the prosecutor's office then to the morgue. But we could not have the body of our son," said Mohamed Hassan, the father of a deceased worker. "We hope the officials have mercy on us." According to Alexandria Governorate, 26 people have been reported dead and ten injured. However, eyewitnesses claim the death toll may have reached 30. Clashes erupted between police and family members of the workers killed in the factory collapse. They were outraged when police refused to let them near the site to check on their injured relatives or identify the bodies of those killed. Police armed with riot gear sealed off the area, confronting worried relatives who attempted to enter the building to look for their loved ones. Alexandria prosecutors, meanwhile, put the injured owner of the factory under arrest, declaring that he will be questioned as soon as he is able to speak. "The investigations will be complete as soon as the owner recovers from his injuries," read a statement from the chief prosecutor's office. Building collapses and road accidents caused by sandstorms, heavy rain and high winds have killed and injured dozens across Egypt this week, state media reported.
