Building collapses in Mansoura, killing at least 5

A building in the Nile Delta City of Mansoura collapsed yesterday evening. Five people have been reported dead, and five more are injured according to the official Egyptian news agency Mena. Among the dead was two seven year old twins.It was an old three-storey building.

The collapsing of buildings happens all too often in Egypt.Many are the examples were an extra storey or two has been added without the approval of the authourities, this going on for years sometimes before it´s discovered, or in cases like this with a fatal outcome.

In 1996 new legilation was introduced to counter this problem , but little if any has changed. The most recent installment of this tragic saga, prior to yesterday´s episode was in Alexandria in December 2007, when 35 people lost their lives.

UPDATE: There seem to have been an order issued 32 years ago, in 1976, to tear down the third storey on Beduih Street but it was not followed through upon.

It also emerged that an order had been issued 32 years ago to restore the house and pull down the third floor, but this was never done

Here´s a TV-clip about it.