Bridge partially collapses in Cairo

A fire reaching a bridge in the Izbat al-Nakhl area in east Cairo led to its partial collapse on Tuesday morning, killing an officer and injuring others, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.

The officer, according to the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm, is Ibrahim Morsi, a member of the civil defense force. Morsi was trying to put out the fire underneath the bridge when parts of it fell on him.

Another officer, Sanad Mohamed, suffered a critical injury to the head, according to the same newspaper. The second injured person is a man who works in a nearby parking lot, according to Khaled al-Hayatemi, an officer from the nearby Marg police station.

Eyewitnesses said that other victims may be found under the debris. Minister of Housing Ibrahim Mehleb, who reportedly visited the site, told the state-run Al-Ahram portal that the ministry is working promptly on removing the debris and fixing the collapsing bridge.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire started in some huts underneath the bridge and caught its steel columns. The huts underneath the bridge are informally populated by a community of residents. Galal al-Saeed, the Cairo governor, told the privately owned channel CBC Extra that these residents were offered alternative housing options that they didn't prefer.

Abdallah Fawzy, head of the Egyptian Company for the Management and Operations of the Underground Metro, said that the metro movement was stopped in the affected area.

Fawzy said that the technical committee examining the area expressed concerns that the whole bridge would fall shortly over the metro's railway.