/ 11 September 2008

Death toll in Egyptian rockslide rises

An Egyptian security official says the death toll from a weekend rockslide that buried a shantytown on Cairo’s outskirts has reached 75.

The official said on Thursday that rescue workers recovered more bodies overnight from under mammoth rocks that sheared off a cliff above the Manshiyet Nasser slum. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The state-owned Middle East News Agency reports that about 112 families have been moved from the shantytown to new homes after Saturday’s rock slide.

The densely populated slum was built by rural migrants seeking work in Cairo. It is located beneath unstable limestone cliffs. There are fears many more bodies could be found in the rubble. — Sapa-AP