Condemned slum building falls

Press, 26 July 1978, Page 8

Condemned slum building falls

NZPA Ca> ro A five-storey apartment house collapsed in Cairo yesterday killing 40 people and injuring 17 others who had refused to move from the dilapidated building because of overcrowding in the capital. The police said that 40 bodies were recovered from the debris and 17 tenants were taken to a hospital after the early morning disaster. Tenants were warned nearly two months ago, that the building, which consists of 21 one-room apartments, was dilapidated and liable to collapse. They were asked to evacuate "the building in the working-class slum neighbourhood, but refused because they had nowhere else 'to go because of overcrowding in the capital which is home for eight million persons.

Housing experts say Cairo was built to accommodate about four million people. Four to five people were crammed in the one-room apartments in the Al Sharabia district in northern Cairo. Because of overcrowding in Cairo, telephone service is erratic, buses are crammed all day and taxis are hard to find. Power cuts occur daily and the water supply cannot reach the residents of upper-storey apartments. The shortage of new houses is so acute, landlords usually demand key-money before leasing an apartment to a new tenant. It was the second serious accident in Cairo in eight days. Last Monday, a bus jammed with passengers plunged into the Nile River after hitting a trailer-truck, drowning 56 people.