Deaths reported after apartment building collapses in Egypt

At least four people have been killed when an apartment building collapsed in southern Egypt, a senior official said.

Rescue teams recovered the four bodies from under the rubble of a five-storey building in the Qulta neighbourhood of the city of Assiut, the province's Governor Essam Saad said on Sunday. 

Assiut lies some 400 kilometers south of the capital Cairo.

Saad said in a statement that rescuers also recovered two survivors who were taken to a local hospital. Later Sunday, workers retrieved a third survivor, the province’s media office said.

The governor added that authorities had evacuated surrounding apartment buildings and dispatched bulldozers and other equipment to clear and secure the site.

Footage shared by the governor's office appeared to show rescuers attempting to remove rubble and work through the building's ruins.

By Sunday afternoon, rescue teams were still searching for survivors using bulldozers and diggers to lift debris.

READ MORE: Egypt's leaning tower of Alexandria meets its end

Common occurrence 

Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighbourhoods and rural areas.

The collapse in Assiut came a day after the roof of a building in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria caved in, leaving two people dead and one injured.

The government has tried to crack down on illegal building in recent years after decades of lax enforcement. 

Authorities are also building new cities and neighborhoods to rehouse those living in at-risk areas.

But many Egyptian cities still have entire neighbourhoods of unlicensed apartment blocks and shantytowns that do not follow building codes and regulations.

READ MORE: Egypt police come under attack in Suez Canal city