CAIRO — Two people were killed and nine others injured on Sunday following the collapse of an eight-story building north of the Egyptian capital, local media stated.

The building collapse happened in the Rashid district of Beheira, in the Egyptian Nile Delta, Al-Ahram reported

Rescue teams were searching for survivors or victims under the rubble in the collapse that occurred in the Rosetta city, around 260 kilometers north of Cairo.

The two fatalities were a man aged 38 years and a 10-month-baby, Al Masry Al Youm newspaper said. Security forces set up a cordon around the site as Civil Defense personnel were removing the debris.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, and authorities reported that injuries ranged from bruises and abrasions to fractures.

The Public Prosecution has launched an investigation in response to the incident. The cause of the collapse is not known yet.

Egypt has witnessed a series of building disasters involving old or compromised structures, resulting in fatalities and injuries to residents, and Sunday's collapse is the latest in this series.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt due to lack of maintenance, unlicensed construction and lax enforcement of regulations.

Less than 24 hours before this incident, an old building collapsed in Alexandria, claiming two lives. On July 6, one person died when a two-story building collapsed in the Gomrok neighborhood of west Alexandria.

Last month, a 13-floor building tumbled down in Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria, leaving 10 people dead, according to media reports.

In recent years, the Egyptian government has cracked down on informal housing and tightened construction codes across the country of over 100 million people. — Agencies