Residents of a collapsed building in Alexandria governorate’s El-Atareen stood in front of the rubble in shock, vowing to sleep on the pavement until the government provides them with alternative housing.
Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website spoke with the inhabitants of the building that collapsed Thursday night.
Mahmoud Hassan, a resident in the building, said that neither a government official nor a neighbourhood representative visited to check on them, adding that they spent the night on the pavement and will continue to do so.
Six were trapped in the collapse before rescue teams saved them and transported them to the hospital.
Mohamed Ali, another resident in the building, said that when they began noticing cracks in the walls, they notified the neighbourhood’s municipal authorities, who gave a renovation order, since the residents couldn’t afford to renovate it themselves.
The building owner is supposed to pay one-third of the renovation fees, as stipulated by the law. However, the building owner, according to Ali, evaded residents and refused to pay.
As a result of age, illegal expansions and corruption, it is not uncommon for buildings to collapse in the coastal city.
Last May, a three-year old child was killed when a building collapsed.
In January of last year, some 24 died and 11 others were injured after a building collapsed in El-Maamoura district.
A similar collapse in July 2012 killed at least nine people, and in October that year, another four were killed.
Source : Ahram online
