Twenty-nine people were injured on Tuesday after hundreds of job-seekers rushed into a building in Alexandria where a number of jobs were being offered.

Under the pressure of the crowd, a bannister rail of a first floor stairway collapsed and a number of applicants fell. The injuries included fractures and bruises.

The textile company in the Mediterranean city had earlier announced 150 available vacancies. 

Egypt’s official unemployment rate stands at 13.1 percent, but unofficial estimates put the rate far higher.

According to official figures, almost 70 percent of unemployed people are aged between 15 and 29, and at least three quarters of those unemployed hold high school diplomas or university degrees.

One of those injured in Tuesday's incident, Ali Basiouni, told Al-Ahram Arabic he had lost his job three months ago and has been unemployed since then.

Basiouni, who supports four people, says he was searching for a secure job.

"Poor treatment and near death is what you get for searching for (a job)," he said.

A similar incident took place in October when hundreds of young people flocked to a stadium in Suez for an employment fair.

Clashes between the job-seekers and security forces, who fired teargas to reestablish order, left at least 11 people injured.