15 dead as building collapses in Cairo

PanARMENIAN.Net - A block of flats has collapsed in Egypt's capital, Cairo, killing at least 15 people, officials say, according to BBC News.

Seven people were also injured when the eight-storey building in the western suburb of Matariya collapsed overnight.

Emergency services chief Gen Mamdouh Abdul Qader said rescue workers were searching through the rubble for 15 people who were believed to be trapped.

Building collapses happen regularly in Egypt due to illegal construction, and poor enforcement of regulations.

Gen Abdul Qader told the AFP: "We don't yet know the cause of the accident, but we have been told that two storeys were recently added totally illegally."

The residents of four nearby buildings have been evacuated as a precaution.

In January 2013, the collapse of an eight-storey block of flats in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria left 28 people dead.