3 dead, 8 injured in Alexandria building collapse

Three people were killed and eight were injured after a building collapsed in Alexandria on Wednesday, the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

Deputy Health Minister Magdy Hegazy said that the eight people wounded from the collapse sustained fractures and other serious injuries.

Citing an anonymous security source, Al-Masry Al-Youm added that 11 families live in the building, which is located in Alexandria's Abu Keir district. Security personnel are currently combing the area for missing victims, the paper reported.

According to the privately owned Al-Watan newspaper, the building collapsed because of heavy rains the city experienced Wednesday morning.

Alexandria has witnessed severe weather conditions since the beginning of the week. On Sunday, the coastal city flooded after experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds, resulting in at least five deaths and millions of pounds worth of damage.

Alexandria's former governor, Hany al-Messiry, resigned in the wake of fierce criticism over the city's ailing infrastructure and the slow response to the crisis, only 8 months after being appointed to the post. Souad al-Khouly is now serving as the interim governor.

In a press conference held by the Cabinet on Tuesday, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail admitted that there were shortcomings on the side of the government in dealing with the current crisis, adding that the rate of the downpour was unprecedented. Ismail said that the government had allocated LE75 million for the reparation of the sewage system in Alexandria but that the budget was not utilized fast enough, asserting that the situation has changed now. Ismail said that there are currently two ongoing projects to repair the sewage system in Alexandria but that they had stalled and will now be completed in two months, privately owned Al-Shorouk reported.