A listed building in the center of Egypt's capital partially collapsed injuring five people on Saturday, in the latest such incident, a security source said.

Authorities who rushed to the building on Kasr al-Nile street, near the iconic Tahrir Square, tended to 14 people including passersby and transported five to hospitals, the source said.

An investigation has been launched to assess the cause of the collapse of the heritage-listed building, Cairo's governorate said on its Facebook page.

It said the damaged four-story property housed several stores and two residential apartments.

An AFP reporter at the scene surrounded by rubble, full of ambulances and fire trucks, said "the building is gutted and barely holding up."

Building collapses in Egypt occur frequently due to lax enforcement of construction and maintenance regulations.

AFP