Cairo [Egypt], June 27: Civil defence teams were searching for people trapped under the debris after a 13-storey building collapsed in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria on Monday.
Alexandria Governor Mohamed al-Sherif said a "vertical split" took place in the building before it collapsed, the state-owned al-Ahram newspaper reported.
Properties around the building were not affected and their residents were not evacuated, according to the governor. Witnesses told local media earlier that people were believed to be trapped under the debris.
At least four people were injured in the collapse, according to the Egyptian health ministry. The ministry said the injuries were minor and mostly due to suffocation.
Authorities were unaware of the exact number of people who were in the building at the time of the disaster and no casualties have been announced as of yet.
However, several residents are said to be trapped underneath as well as customers of a small supermarket located in the building.
According to officials on the scene, there were no reports of children being trapped beneath the rubble.
The Ministry of Health said 12 ambulances were sent to the scene and hospitals in Alexandria were in a state of alert to receive possible victims.
The collapse came two days ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival, a major holiday in Muslim-dominated Egypt.
Deadly collapses of residential buildings are not uncommon in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country of more than 100 million. They are often blamed on poor maintenance of ageing buildings and violations of construction regulations.
Source: Qatar Tribune