At least nine people were killed when a five-story residential building collapsed in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Monday. Rescuers continue to search for survivors in the wreckage.

Arab News quoted the security directorate in Cairo as saying, “This incident took place in Hadaiq al-Quba, a dense area in the north of Cairo.”

Residents of the building woke up to the screams of passers-by. Civil protection and police officers were dispatched along with ambulances and machinery

Representatives of the Cairo Governorate said after an initial inspection of the collapsed building that ‘unauthorized extension work on the first floor of the building is one of the causes of the accident’.

“Allegedly, the building collapsed due to the collapse of the load-bearing internal wall of the building.”

Cairo Governor Khalid Abdul Aal said that an engineering committee was established to investigate the incident. The supply of gas and electricity has been stopped as a precaution until the search and rescue operation is completed after evacuating the adjacent buildings.

‘Public prosecution has taken eyewitness statements’.

The Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity, Nafin al-Qabah, with the support of the governor, has directed the families of those killed in the collapse of the building to pay 60,000 Egyptian pounds as compensation and provide immediate medical aid to the injured.