Roof collapses on Egypt building, kills 3-year-old

Security personnel search for clues at the site where senior Egyptian police officer Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki was killed after an explosive device placed under his car went off, in a western suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, April 23, 2014. Another police officer died in a raid on a militant hideout in the country’s second-largest city, Alexandria, officials said. The deaths came amid stepped-up attacks against Egyptian police and military as militant groups wage an increasingly violent campaign following the July 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. AP

CAIRO — The roof of a six-story building collapsed on Friday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing a three-year-old child, an Egyptian security official said.

Maj. Gen. Amin Ezz el-Din, security head of Alexandria, said another person was injured and three cars were damaged when part of the roof collapsed into the sixth-floor apartment in the eastern Montazah neighborhood.

He said the building was old and at full occupancy.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt, where shoddy construction is widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and rural areas. With real estate at a premium in big cities like Alexandria and Cairo, developers seeking bigger profits frequently violate planning permits.

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