CAIRO - Five people were killed and 24 others injured when a Cairo apartment building collapsed in the early hours of Saturday, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
Witnesses told Reuters many people were still trapped under the rubble of the 10-story building.
"People were cramped underneath and we were trying to call on people, for someone to hear us," said Ali, an eyewitness helping with the rescue mission.
"Nothing," he said. "Some people could be heard, but barely. There was one woman I could hear. I kept calling her and she wasn't answering back at all. But I could hear the sound of someone in pain, very low."
Abbas Ahmed, a refugee from Sudan living in Cairo, said his relatives lived in the building and they were struggling to pull them out.
"We heard nothing from there; we tried to get them out, to know if they are alive or dead, we have no idea," Ahmed said, standing at the site.
Many were rushed to local hospitals nearby as the search for missing victims continued.