Tragedy as 15-storey building collapses with rescuers in desperate search
Rescue teams are desperately scouring piles of rubble for survivors after a 15-storey building collapsed in Egypt.
Local media shared a clip showing the building coming down in the Sidi Beshr area in Alexandria.
Members of the public can be seen gathering in front of the smoking debris as fire engines line the streets.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing an explosion before the building came down, it was reported.
Alexandria state governor Muhammad al-Sharif said the building was usually rented out for summer holidaymakers.
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He added that officials and emergency responders should rush to the site of the collapse.
Al-Sharif explained that the building was ripped apart by a "a vertical split" in the concrete.
The 15-storey building collapsed earlier today, trapping people under the rubble (AsharqNewsEGY)The governor added that the top floor had earlier been removed after residents became concerned over a danger of the building collapsing.
Witnesses shared videos of bulldozers attempting to remove the rubble as locals desperately clawed through the debris in the search for survivors.
The governor said a tally of casualties has not yet been recorded and cannot be determined at this time.
Locals were seen using their hands to find survivors trapped under the rubble (AsharqNewsEGY/Twitter)Though the cause of the collapse is also unknown, some Egyptian outlets say it started after two cars crashed into each other outside.
Just two years ago in a similar tragedy, four women were killed after a Victorian-era building crashed to the ground in the second-largest Egyptian city.
Many of the buildings in Alexandria were built in the 19th and 20th Centuries and some are in desperate need of renovation, local reports say.
A local lawmaker said there was a "vertical split" in the building (AsharqNewsEGY/Twitter)Earlier this month in Spain, video footage showed the terrifying moment a five-storey building randomly collapsed just "seconds" after its residents were evacuated.
A resident of the building in Teruel, Aragon Region, had called the fire brigade on Tuesday morning after hearing a "creaking" sound.
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When firefighters arrived on the scene, some residents had already left the building after hearing the ominous noises and seeing cracks.
Just as the firefighters finished evacuating the remaining residents, the building, which had been home to 21 families, dramatically collapsed.
According to local media, the collapse happened "seconds" after the evacuation was complete.
The shore of Alexandria in EgyptThe cause of the collapse was still unknown. However, some residents are worried that recent heavy rains coupled with a deficient drainage system may have caused it.
Days earlier, several residents of the building had gone to the City Hall to report water leaks.
Hours after the collapse, journalist, writer, and literary prize winner Javier Sierra, who had lived in the building with his parents when he was a child, took to Twitter to write: "I want to send a huge hug to the families who saw their homes collapse today."
Local police officer Angel Loras told local media: "The structural foundations were as delicate as tissue paper, completely deteriorated, and they caused the building to collapse under pressure."
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