37 die in Cairo rockslide.

07 Sep, 2008

At least 37 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a rockslide in the shantytown of Manshiyet Nasser in eastern Cairo. On 6 September at around 09.00 local time huge boulders weighing up to 200 tons each broke away from the steep Muqattam hills overlooking the poor working class neighbourhood, crushing and killing the occupants of the houses below. Two hundred people are still thought to be trapped in the rubble according to local sources. Rescue teams and heavy earth-moving equipment were slow to arrive on the scene, sparking protests from local residents. Some have pointed the finger at construction work on the hill, which is alleged to have destabilised the rock face. Survivors and people made homeless by the rockslide are being housed in a tented camp in a public garden a few kilometres away.