Egypt investigates residential building collapse in Cairo that killed at least 14, including children

On Monday, the Egyptian public prosecution's offices opened an investigation into the collapse of a five-storey residential building in the capital Cairo that had claimed the lives 14, including children, as search and rescue efforts continue looking for possible survivors. 

Three nearby buildings have sustained severe damages, accordingly, and evacuated for the protection of the residents, an official source at the local municipality told The New Arab.

The public prosecution office announced that preliminary investigations indicated that a man who lived on the first floor of the building, located in the Hadayiq al-Qubba neighbourhood, reportedly had several walls removed from his flat on the same day of the collapse, inflicting damages to the foundation of the building.

The public prosecutor ordered the arrest of the man in question and the contractor who had reportedly removed the walls, as the events surrounding the incident are currently under investigation and witnesses are questioned, according to an official statement.

Deputy Cairo governor for the northern sector, Hossam Eddin Fawzy, told local media outlets that the building, established in 1980, had received a restoration order in 1992 that was never implemented even after the landlord was officially warned four years later.

Monday's incident is one of many building collapses common in Egypt due to poor construction standards, especially in poor and lower-middle-class areas amid the alleged corruption and the lack of accountability. 

On Sunday, a seven-storey building fell apart in northern Beheira province, leaving four people, including a 10-year-old child, dead.

Last month, a 14-storey building collapsed in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing ten and injuring four others.