Apartment block collapses in Rome

Rome, Jan 22 (IANS/AKI) Residents of an apartment block in central Rome had a lucky escape when its top three floors collapsed on Friday after recent renovation work on the building.

Firemen rapidly evacuated the block after a female resident living on the top floor reported ominous creaking sounds coming from the roof to an engineer who immediately called emergency services.

By around 2 a.m., the residents of all 19 apartments had been evacuated from the building, where the collapse occurred two hours later, damaging vehicles parked outside but causing no casualties, police said.

Several nearby hotels have offered accommodation to the building's residents, councillor Giuseppe Gerace said.

Emergency services cordoned off the building and surrounding areas while firemen carried out checks inside to try and establish what might have caused the disaster.

--IANS/AKI

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