The death toll from the collapse of an apartment building in the southern city of Aswan has risen to 13 and eight residents remain missing, officials said Wednesday.  

The five-story building collapsed Tuesday in a low-income district of Aswan, about 425 miles south of Cairo.

The officials, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said eight people were believed to be under the rubble.

Aswan Governor Samir Youssef has decided to commission an architectural committee to look into the collapse, which caused several neighboring buildings to show signs of structural damage.

Officials have said the collapse was probably caused by digging on an adjacent piece of land for the construction of another building.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt owing to shoddy construction and the unauthorized addition of extra stories.

(China Daily via agencies, June 24, 2004)