Mahmoud al-Gammal is a professor at Alexandria University’s Faculty of Engineering and lives in a ground-floor flat in the five-storey building Number 9 Ibn-Khalkan Street in the upper-class district of Lauran in Alexandria. Last Monday Dr Gammal almost lost his wife and little children when the 12-storey building Number 10 which lies opposite their building across the six-metre-wide side street collapsed, falling sideways and severely damaging their own. A huge water reservoir on the rooftop was flung away as the building fell; it struck the nearby buildings ruining balconies and destroying several walls. The residents of Number 9 immediately ran out for their lives; while those of the other neighbouring buildings were swiftly evacuated, and no lives were lost. Sorrowfully, this was not the case with the residents of Number 10; all who had been inside the building were buried under the rubble. By Friday morning 24 had been dug out dead, and it was believed that some 20 – 25 others were buried under the rubble. Only three people were brought out alive—Laila Mahmoud Safwat, Fawziya Abdel-Ati, and 25-year-old Yasmine Abdel-Aal who is a recent bride.
The pain and shock
The catastrophe occurred at 9:00am last Monday, reportedly the result of ‘repair’ and interior decoration done on the first floor. It is circulated that the work had involved the demolition of one or more columns, which led to the disintegration of the entire building. Thankfully, many of the residents were spared since they had already left for work or school. Immediately, Alexandria governor Major General Adel Labib headed to the site together with Minister of the Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi and Major General Abdel-Meguid, head of the security forces and head of the Civil Defense and Fire Department. A state of emergency was announced in Alexandria hospitals, and operations room was set up in Alexandria governorate to follow up on the rescue effort.
Army rescue teams and marine forces joined efforts with the civil defence teams to search for survivors under the rubble. Police dogs were used to search for the trapped victims whose cries and moaning could be heard. Some managed to call for help through their cell phones. The site was cordoned off but, despite the heavy cloud of dust which made breathing difficult and prompted many to wear masks, families and friends of the missing people camped by waiting for news, stupefied, shocked and, almost invariably, grieving.
Fawziya’s husband Mahmoud Ahmed who is a pensioner told Watani that he had bought the flat in Number 10 for his son who is now in the US. Ahmed said that, before buying the flat, he went to the local council to enquire about its condition and was told there were no violations or complaints reported against it.
Gross negligence
Alexandria governor ordered LE20,000 to be paid to each family who had lost a member and LE10,000 each to the injured. Additional sums will also be paid to the victims by the Social Solidarity Ministry to the tune of LE5,000 and LE1,000 respectively.
Major General Labib ordered a panel of experts to investigate the reasons for the collapse. A source on the panel said on Monday that preliminary findings suggested the causes were shoddy building materials and insufficient use of steel reinforcement bars.
Prosecutors have issued warrants for the arrest of the owner of the building, Hanem Mustafa al-Erian who is living in Kuwait, as well as the contractor and the architect in charge of the work that was being carried on the first floor prior to the collapse.
The building was constructed as a seven-storey building in 1982, even though the building permit was only for five storeys. The same year a demolition decree was issued by the local council for the illegally built storeys, which was never executed. In 1999 another decree was issued ordering the restoration of part of the building, and was followed by a third decree for the restoration of the entire building in 2002. Nothing whatsoever was done in this regard; neither did the owner execute the restoration decrees nor did the council uphold them. Dr Gammal angrily comments: “Apart from that, where was the council when the building rose seven storeys high, and later another five?”
Finger pointing
And as is usually the case when calamity strikes, finger-pointing was the order of the day. Survivors claim they repeatedly made official claims to the local council against Erian because she refrained from conducting the necessary repairs and restorations, while Erian claims she made an official complaint against the tenants because they refused to evacuate the building which should have been demolished. Local council officials one and all refused to give the media any comment on the matter but one high-ranking official told Watani on condition of anonymity that Erian made no claim. The neighbours also told Watani that Erian’s brother had a flat on the fifth floor of Number 9, in which his college student son and two friends had been studying for their examinations when the building fell. The three have not been found.
For Dr Gammal, as for all Egyptians, the matter is not only the staggering human tragedy of the disintegration of the 12-storey building. He wrathfully vows he will take to court all those who, due to gross negligence, are responsible for the calamity.