CAIRO - Rain and sandstorms that battered Egypt at the weekend killed at least 31 people, officials said on Monday, adding the toll could rise as rescue workers were still sifting through two collapsed buildings.

The bodies of six workers were pulled out on Monday of the debris of a six-story textile factory that crumpled under heavy the previous day in the northern port city of Alexandria, the officials said.

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And one worker among 10 who had been wounded in Sunday's accident died of his injuries, bringing the overall toll of those killed to 10, the officials said.

Rescue workers were still looking for about a dozen workers thought to be still trapped under the mangled building, they added.

In the Nile Delta city of Tanta, a child was killed and nine people hurt when a five-story residential building came down on Sunday, leaving one person trapped under the rubble.

Building collapses are relatively frequent in Egypt where construction guidelines are flouted and extra floors are often added to buildings without planning permission.

Twenty people were killed and more than 40 injured in road accidents on Sunday across Egypt blamed on poor visibility from heavy rains and sandstorms, officials said.

Agence France-Presse