Nine dead, 33 injured in building collapse

AT least nine people mostly firefighters and police were killed when a 12-storey building that had attracted police attention for alleged illegal renovations collapsed in the Cairo late on Monday night.

Rescue workers used bulldozers and cranes in a desperate bid to recover more survivors as anxious relatives watched and waited at the scene. The building collapsed after a fire broke out in Souq al-Wahda, a ground-floor electrical shop.

After working through the night under spotlights, nine bodies were recovered including seven firefighters and police officers according to rescue officials.

At least six people remained trapped in the rubble, and a member of the rescue team said rescuers had heard from a survivor beneath the debris.

Rescuers pulled one fire brigade officer alive from the rubble, his face covered with dust. He was taken to an ambulance amid cries of "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great", from onlookers.

All but two of those killed were firefighters and policemen dispatched to put out the blaze The civilians who died were identified as workers in the store where the fire started.

Hundreds of people lived in the building, but most had evacuated by the time it collapsed three hours after the fire began in a home appliances store.

The owner of the building had illegally added four floors 12 years ago and ignored an order to tear them down, police said. Tenants had also complained to police six days ago about renovations in the store where the fire began; they feared the work would damage the building's foundations. The building, built in 1981, was in Nasr City, an eastern suburb of the Egyptian capital near the airport. The area is home to many high-rise residential buildings and shopping areas.

The structure collapsed accordion-style into a pile of rubble about two stories high. Several satellite dishes rested intact on the roof, and a panda toy, slippers, bags and a brass pot were scattered in the debris.

Building collapses are common in Egypt and are often caused by shoddy construction or the unauthorised building of extra stories. The last such incident was in May, when a seven-story apartment building collapsed in Cairo, killing at least seven people.

General Mohammed el-Moayyed, in charge of rescue efforts on the scene, said six firefighters were believed to still be trapped in the rubble and probably some workers from the small appliance store.

He said he had called for rescue workers from the armed forces to help in order to speed the work.

"We are racing against time. Hopefully, we can get them alive, God willing," el-Moayyed said.

33 people were in hospital with injuries, Health Minister Mohammed Awad Tag Eddin said. Their conditions were not known.