CAIRO — Nineteen people were killed and eight injured on Tuesday when a condemned apartment building in Cairo collapsed, Egyptian officials said.
Civil defense officials said a demolition order had been issued for the building three years ago due to its poor structural condition.
The owner had illegally added three stories to the original five-story structure in the northeastern Matareyya district, the officials said.
The precise cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. Officials said there may have been a gas explosion in one of the apartments, but building work in a workshop on the second floor could also have been responsible.
