Civil protection forces in northern Egypt are searching for people trapped in the rubble of a thirteen-story building that collapsed on Monday.

The Egyptian Public Prosecution Office has ordered an investigation into the incident that took place in Sidi Bishr area of ​​Alexandria.

According to Arab News, at least four people have been taken to nearby hospitals with injuries.

The governor of Alexandria, Major General Muhammad al-Sharif, said that the building located on Khalil Hamadah Street had exploded vertically.

Eyewitnesses say that several cars were destroyed when the building collapsed.

People were inside the building and a supermarket below it at the time of the demolition. Many residents saw the building collapse.

The number of people buried under the debris is not yet known, but the authorities have set up a security cordon at the accident site.

Gas, electricity and other utility services have been shut off to nearby buildings.

The governor said that Umrat was being used for a rented apartment during the summer season.

Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, has ordered an increase in the readiness of hospitals in Alexandria Governorate to receive the injured immediately.

“It has dispatched twelve ambulances to the accident site,” the ministry said.

Recall that earlier this month, three pedestrians were injured when two balconies of an old building collapsed in East Alexandria.

In June 2022, a five-story building collapsed in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.