Three dead following building collapse near Cairo

AL-MONITOR Staff

This picture taken on May 26, 2021 from the Cairo Citadel overlooking the Egyptian capital shows a view of the minarets of mosques and building rooftops in old Islamic Cairo, which gave its nickname of a "city of a thousand minarets". — This picture taken on May 26, 2021, from the Cairo Citadel overlooking the Egyptian capital shows a view of the minarets of mosques and building rooftops in old Islamic Cairo, which gave its nickname of a "city of a thousand minarets." — AMIR MAKAR/AFP via Getty Images

A building collapse near Cairo Wednesday night left three people dead.

Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported a residential building collapsed in the city of Shubra Al Khaymah, just north of the capital. Rescuers were unable to retrieve three people from the building, according to the outlet.

The Egyptian lawyers syndicate later confirmed that three lawyers died as a result of the collapse. One of them had an office in the building, the state-owned Al-Ahram reported on Thursday.

Many buildings in Egypt are not properly built and illegal construction in particular is a problem. Structural collapses sometimes occur as a result. One man died in July when an apartment building fell down in Giza. The building had previously been ordered demolished but the order was never implemented. In March, 24 people were killed when a nine-story building collapsed in Cairo. The tragedy highlighted weak government oversight of building safety.

Three dead following building collapse near Cairo

Egypt has major problems with infrastructure safety and deadly incidents are not uncommon.

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