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Rescuers hunt for Egypt survivors

Other News Materials 26 December 2007 01:51 (UTC +04:00)

Rescuers in Egypt are looking for survivors in the rubble of a block of flats that collapsed in Alexandria on Monday, killing at least 12.

Three people were pulled alive from the site in the suburb of Loran but another 15 are feared dead in the ruins.

Collapses happen frequently in Egypt's overcrowded urban centres, where many buildings are constructed with poor materials and regulations are flouted.

An investigation has started into the cause of the collapse.

Two storeys had been added illegally to the building and local authorities ordered them removed as long ago as 1995, though the order was never implemented.

Emergency workers continued their search of the site on Tuesday, using sledgehammers and circular saws. Sniffer dogs were also sent to the site.

Frantic relatives waited outside the cordon, clinging to hopes that loved ones would be rescued alive.

An operations room has been set up to co-ordinate rescue efforts, according to Alexandria Governor Adel Labib.

The governor said renovation work was being undertaken on the first floor of the block when the building started listing and collapsed.

Among those brought out of the rubble on Tuesday was a four-year-old girl.

Another was a 24-year-old woman, described as "in good condition".

"She can move and speak, and is now undergoing X-rays on different parts of her body," official Mena news agency quoted Alexandria hospital doctor Mahmud al-Damati as saying.

In 2005, at least 16 people died when a building collapsed in another residential area in the Mediterranean city - Egypt's second largest.

That block, which had had three extra floors added illegally, collapsed onto the wall of a neighbouring school as mothers were waiting to pick up their children. ( BBC )

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