Ambulances were dispatched to the scene in the working class neighbourhood of Kerdasa, where civil defence teams searched for people thought to be missing under the rubble, according to the Al-Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper.

Eyewitnesses told the state-owned outlet that “a gas cylinder explosion” caused the collapse, and a police investigation was under way.

Building regulations are unevenly enforced in the sprawling metropolis of Cairo, home to over 26 million people.

The city has seen a number of deadly building collapses in recent years, both due to the dilapidated state of some and, at times, failure to comply with building regulations.

bha/ser

© Agence France-Presse