CAIRO: A sandstorm, strong winds and lashing rains swept across Egypt on Sunday, closing several ports and disrupting traffic in the Suez Canal while at least three people died in a factory collapse in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, officials said.
Five people were also seriously injured in the collapse of the textile factory in Alexandria, a security official said blaming the accident "on bad weather and heavy rains."
"It has been raining steadily and very hard since yesterday (Saturday) in Alexandria. The building is 30 years old and the foundations could have been damaged," one security official said.
Relief workers rushed to the scene to assist more factory workers, officials said, adding that 30 people could have been working in the six-storey factory in the northern Alexandria neighborhood of Moharram Bey.
Building collapses are relatively frequent in Egypt where construction guidelines are flouted and extra floors are often added to buildings without planning permission.
Twenty-six ships were barred from entering the Suez Canal and 29 vessels delayed for three hours before they could move through the waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
The waterway was hit by poor visibility and winds of up to 40 knots an hour, said an official at the canal, Egypt's third-largest source of foreign revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers.
High waves also closed all eight of Egypt's main Red Sea ports on Sunday for the second consecutive day, as well its Mediterranean ports of Alexandria and Dekheila, officials said.
An Italian container ship was meanwhile stranded off the northwestern coast of Marsa Matruh after its engines broke down, Italian diplomatic sources said.
The Jolly Amaranto owned by the Ignazio Messina maritime company with 21 crew members on board was waiting to be rescued, the diplomatic sources said, adding that an oil tanker and a cargo ship were in the vicinity.
Meanwhile officials at Cairo airport said preventive measures were being taken after visibility was reduced to 300 meters.
Meteorologists said the bad weather was expected to last through Monday and have advised people to stay indoors due to a sandstorm that has blanketed the Egyptian capital.
With temperatures having plunged since Friday night, thunderstorms and heavy rains have lashed the north coast, Red Sea region and the Sinai peninsula.
Winds, rain and hail battered the eastern Mediterranean for a second day on Sunday, wreaking havoc across the region as a months-long drought came to a sudden, drastic end.
Winds along the coast topped 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour on Sunday and waves reached 10 meters (32.8 feet) in height as cities in Lebanon and Israel suffered power cuts.
Rain and hail whipped across Lebanon as the long-awaited first snowstorm this year hit the country's mountains —bearing good news for the country's famed ski resorts but leaving commuters stranded on icy roads.
Lebanon's seaside roads and ports were closed on Sunday morning, hours after a 45-year-old woman was killed when a falling palm tree crashed into her car.
A snowstorm also whipped across the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, disrupting traffic but also bringing some relief from a drought which has gripped the country for the past four years.
Like Egypt, Jordan was hit by sandstorms on Sunday as visibility deteriorated and temperatures continued to plummet. Jordan was also bracing for heavy rain and snow expected later in the day, which officials warned could lead to flooding.
In Israel, a Russian tourist was feared dead after he was blown into the sea in the storm that broke out on Saturday.
