CAIRO: Three houses in Cairo’s blue-collar district of Imbaba collapsed Wednesday shortly after residents evacuated their properties, Youm7 reported.
Head of Imbaba district council was inspecting buildings in Zaki Matar Street and ordered the three houses be evacuated for being “on the verge of collapse.” Two other adjacent houses were also evacuated; although they have showed no signs of imminent collapse or cracks.
Civil Protection forces arrived at the scene after locals reported the collapse. No casualties have been reported, although the financial losses of families are yet to be determined.
According to a survey conducted by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) in June 2014, the “rampant violations” of building laws, lack of government oversight, corruption, poor maintenance and failing to follow global construction standards are among the reasons behind the recurrent building collapse phenomenon in Egypt.
One of the worst building collapses in the country occurred in July 2012 in the old neighborhood of al-Gumrok in Alexandria, when an 11-story building collapsed leaving more than 20 people dead. The building was originally six floors high but another five floors were added illegally.
Between July 2012 and June 2013, 392 residential buildings collapsed, resulting in 192 deaths, according to the EIPR survey.