CAIRO – The death toll from a building collapse in central Egypt’s Asyut province rose to nine on Wednesday.
“Eight of the victims were females, including a six-month-old baby girl, in addition to an elderly man,” a source at the province’s emergency monitoring center told Xinhua.
Rescue teams continued to remove the rubble in search of survivors or additional victims.
A security cordon has been imposed around the site, and four neighboring buildings have been evacuated as a precaution, according to the source.
Asyut Governor Hisham Abu Al-Nasr, along with local officials, is overseeing the response. The governor has vowed to hold those responsible accountable if negligence or violations are found during the investigation.
XINHUA