1 killed, 7 wounded in Cairo building collapse

CAIRO, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — At least one person was killed and seven others wounded in a five-story building collapse that took place on Saturday in a neighborhood in the Shubra district of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the Cairo Governorate said in a statement.

Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber ordered the evacuation of the nearby buildings in the Al-Sahel neighborhood as a precaution, and an engineering committee was formed to investigate the cause of the collapse, according to the statement.

Initial reports indicate that the collapse was caused by an illegal expansion by a ground-floor resident who demolished a wall inside their apartment, according to the Cairo Governorate.

The statement noted that rescue teams are still searching for survivors under the rubble.