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At least 95 feared dead in Egypt's rockslide

At least 95 people were killed in a massive rockslide that crushed dozens of homes in a Cairo slum earlier this month, a security official said.

Updated on: Sep 17, 2008, 02:03:26 IST
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At least 95 people were killed in a massive rockslide that crushed dozens of homes in a Cairo slum earlier this month, a security official said on Saturday.

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"Fifteen more bodies" are still under the rubble, the official said, adding that rescue operations would continue for a few more days.

The previous toll of the number of dead after giant boulders flattened dozens of homes in the shantytown of Manshiyet Nasser on September 6 was 82.

Soldiers and emergency services have tunnelled underneath the enormous rocks to search for bodies.

Entire families are believed to have been buried under the pile of debris which extends to 15 metres.

Estimates of the number of people killed in the disaster have been put at 500 by some television channels.

Residents have blamed the rockslide on work that had been going on for several weeks on the Moqattam hill overlooking the shantytown, and said the authorities had been warned of the dangers of just such a disaster.

Several rockslides have occurred in the area in the past, the previous most deadly incident killing 70 people in the adjacent district of Zabaleen in 1993.

 
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