LONDON: Rescue teams in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Wednesday recovered the bodies of six people, including three children, from the rubble of a collapsed building after a 24-hour search.
Seven others, including a child, were taken to Al-Zaitoun Hospital with injuries, the Egyptian newspaper Ahram reported.
Rescuers continued searching the debris for anyone still trapped, with security officials overseeing the operation. Authorities said the search would continue until the final casualty toll was confirmed.
Police, civil defense crews and ambulances were dispatched after Cairo’s emergency operations center received a report of the collapse on Al-Khaleej Street.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Cairo Governorate said the building dated to the 1950s and consisted of a ground floor and four upper floors supported by load-bearing walls.
Authorities evacuated neighboring buildings as a precaution and were installing temporary steel supports to stabilize them, the statement said. The measures were intended to protect residents, passersby and property.
Authorities have begun legal proceedings and are investigating the collapse.
Building collapses are relatively common in Egypt, where poor construction practices, inadequate maintenance and decades of lax enforcement of building regulations have left many residential buildings unsafe.
Authorities have sought to crack down on illegal construction and relocate residents from buildings at risk of collapse.