Egypt: Collapsing Buildings  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Headlines about collapsing buildings and pulling children's bodies from the rubble are common in Egypt. Ibn Al Dunya, writing in Fustat, briefs us about the latest tragedy which took away five innocent lives.
The blogger explains:
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. […] It was an old three-storey building.
Why does this happen? Ibn Al Dunya offers the following reason:
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 authorities, this going on for years sometimes before it´s discovered, or in cases like this with a fatal outcome.
And what preventative measures are in place to avert such tragedies? Ibn Al Dunya says:
In 1996 new legislation was introduced to counter this problem, but little if any has changed. The most recent instalment of this tragic saga, prior to yesterday´s episode was in Alexandria in December 2007, when 35 people lost their lives.