5 killed as eight-story building collapses in Egyptian city

PanARMENIAN.Net - An eight-story apartment building collapsed in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria early on Wednesday, Jan 16, killing five people, including a child, according to The Associated Press.

It was not immediately known what caused the collapse, but violations of building specifications have been blamed in the past for similar accidents. The governor of Alexandria, Mohammed Abbas Atta, told Egypt's official news agency that the building was constructed without a permit.

The police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said rescue teams were searching for survivors under the rubble.

The building collapse came one day after another deadly accident in Egypt that was blamed on negligence. Early on Tuesday just south of Cairo, 19 police conscripts were killed and more than a 100 were injured when the last car of the train they were riding on jumped the tracks, smashed into another train, and then was dragged for several kilometers.

The train wreck fueled anger against President Mohammed Morsi's administration for failing to carry out reform and overhaul the nation's deteriorating public services.

Two months ago, 50 children died when a train rammed into their school bus in southern Egypt. That tragedy also sparked a storm of criticism of Morsi, the country's Islamist leader who took office in June.