22 Die in Egypt Building Collapse
VOA News
26 Feb 2002 16:42 UTC
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The bodies of 22 people, including six-brides-to-be, have been recovered from rubble of a four-story building that collapsed Monday in the Egyptian city of Damietta.

The building housed a beauty salon on the ground floor, and police say all but one of those killed were women preparing for weddings later in the day.

At least 20 other people were injured in the building collapse. Among those who managed to survive was a nine-year-old boy who was pulled out of rubble about four hours after the collapse.

Angry residents told the Associated Press that ambulance and rescue crews took more than one hour to arrive at the scene.

Rescue operations are still being carried out Tuesday.

Egypt has had a number of building collapses in recent years which have been attributed to lax building regulations and the unauthorized addition of extra stories.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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