Building collapses in Cairo killing at least 13

Another building has collapsed in Cairo killing at least 13 people and injuring four others just days after another building in Egypt collapsed.

The Cairo building was set over five stories and is in the densely populated Hadayek Al-Qubba neighbourhood of Cairo. Two properties next to it have now been vacated.

Seven of the people who died were members of the same family.

This came after at least two people were killed, including a nine-month-old, and nine others were injured in Beheira Governorate on Sunday when an eight-storey building collapsed.

The collapse in Beheira Governorate became the fourth building collapse in the space of just one month.

READ: At least 2 dead as fourth building collapses in Egypt in a month 

Poor, unregulated construction and low maintenance of apartment blocks has led to many deadly building collapses across the country in recent years.

Rights groups and others, including the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), have criticised the government for failing to repair or demolish derelict properties.

According to their figures, between 2014 and 2020 roughly 1,000 properties collapsed killing around 500 people, a third of them children and injuring a further 1,000.

In one of the houses, sewage water under the apartment block eroded the foundations of the property – the building did not collapse but the residents had to leave the house.

Of the 14.5 million residential properties in the country, around 100,000 of them are irreparable and dangerous and should have been demolished, according to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilisation’s figures. Residents have described having to bribe officials to inspect their buildings and see if they are safe to live in.