17 killed in apartment block collapse

Eight other people were injured and rescue teams were searching for survivors under the rubble in Alexandria.

The collapse came a day after 19 police conscripts were killed when a train carriage jumped the tracks and smashed into another train just outside Cairo.

It was not known what caused the building to collapse in a poor district of Alexandria, but the governor of the city said it was constructed without a permit.

Lax law enforcement following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak means that no action is being taken against building violations.

Residents complain that landowners in farmlands on the city’s outskirts have taken advantage of near lawlessness and illegally sold land to developers who built shoddy apartment blocks.

The collapse is likely to fuel a popular outcry against the administration of president Mohammed Morsi, whose critics say he has failed to reform and overhaul deteriorating public services.