3 young siblings die after building collapses in Egypt

Three young siblings have died after a two-storey building collapsed on them in Egypt’s Beni Suef Governorate yesterday.

Rescue workers managed to save nine other injured people, including three children. The siblings who died were aged eight, 11 and 12.

Authorities have not officially disclosed the reason the building collapsed yet it is a common occurrence in Egypt.

Often demolition orders issued for unsafe buildings are ignored or police are bribed so that they don’t have to be pulled down.

In September an apartment building collapsed in the city of Shoubra El-Khaima, killing three lawyers.

 Egypt: Grocer stabs and strangles 6-year-old girl after attempted rape

In July a six-storey building in the Warraq district of Cairo collapsed killing one person and injuring others after an order to demolish the building was ignored.

Property developers often violate planning permissions and continue to build more and more storeys on top of apartment blocks even when it is not safe to do so. On top of this, the building work itself is often not deemed safe and illegal construction continues.

In June, five people died under a collapsed apartment block and in March 25 people were crushed and 75 injured after a building in the Cairo district of Gesr Suez collapsed.

Eyewitnesses reported that the building started leaning just days before it fell. Those with the means to do so found somewhere else to live whilst those that could not afford it, stayed.

A six-month-old baby survived the collapse, but his mother, father and sister were found dead.