Egyptian civil protection units in their ongoing efforts retrieved another body on Wednesday from the rubble of a 14-storey building that collapsed in Alexandria earlier this week, bringing the total number of casualties to 10 deaths and four injuries.
The units announced Tuesday evening the retrieval of three new victims, a woman, and two men.
Four people, including a paramedic, were injured in the vicinity of the collapsed building that is located on Khalil Hamada Street in the Montazah neighborhood.
The Alexandria Health Affairs Directorate announced that all of the wounded were discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment.
Meanwhile, the Administrative Prosecution Authority summoned on Wednesday the organization manager and the director of engineering in Hay Awal El Montazah to investigate the circumstances of the accident.
Following the examination, the Authority found out that the property had split vertically downward with the collapse of its right side toward the building façade while the left side didn’t collapse, a well-informed local source said.
The Montazah Prosecution Office ordered the detention of the owner of the 14th floor of the collapsed property and the contractor, for four days pending investigations into the charges against them.
The prosecution charged the defendants with three counts of manslaughter and wrongful injury, as well as building without a permit associated with property damage, which caused the collapse of the property and endangered the lives of citizens.
It also ordered the preservation of the property file, in order to clarify the cause of the accident, and the formation of a committee from the Housing Directorate in the governorate to conduct the necessary inspection of the property and examine its file.
Moreover, the Egyptian Youth Council stressed that its cadres and volunteers in Alexandria continue to help in the evacuation and support of the civil protection units.
MP Rawya Mokhtar said on her Facebook page that upon the collapse of the building, she was keen on being present at the site along with volunteers to help the civil protection units and the ambulance.
Governor of Alexandria Mohammed El-Sherif remarked that all relevant bodies were assigned to provide full support for the building residents, totaling around 16 households.
