Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Death Toll From Cairo Rockfall Rises to 61 | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page

CAIRO (Reuters) – The death toll from the rockfall which crushed dozens of houses in Cairo last week has risen to 61, the state news agency MENA said on Wednesday.

Rescue work at the site in eastern Cairo has been slow because of the size of the rocks and logistical problems reaching the scene with heavy earth-moving equipment.

No survivors have emerged since Saturday, the day the nearby cliff face peeled off and tumbled down on the houses.

Fifty-eight people were injured in the rockfall and 13 of them remain in hospital, MENA said, quoting the Health Ministry.

The government will provide 2,000 apartments for people who lost their houses in the disaster or whose houses will need to be demolished, the government newspaper al-Ahram said, quoting ruling party secretary-general Safwat el-Sherif.

Residents of the shantytown on the eastern edge of old Cairo have complained at delays in helping them. They threw stones at visiting dignitaries on Tuesday, eyewitnesses said.