22 dead in Cairo rockslide

CAIRO (AFP) - At least 22 people were killed and 23 injured on Saturday when dozens of homes in a northern Cairo shantytown were crushed by a massive rockslide, Egyptian officials and media said.

Disaster struck at 0650 GMT when several huge boulders estimated by one official as each weighing “hundreds of tonnes” broke off Moqattam hill overlooking the capital’s densely populated Manshiyet Nasser and struck the district of Isbat Bekhit.

The section of hill that broke away was estimated at 60 metres wide and 15 metres long.

The official MENA news agency reported in the early afternoon that the toll stood at 22 dead and 23 hurt but Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali said only 14 people had been killed and 21 injured. Lawmaker Haidar Bardadi told Egyptian television he expected the toll to rise drastically, saying 35 homes had been crushed and between 150 and 200 people were trapped beneath the rubble.

Rescuers used their bare hands to shift debris in a desperate bid to search for victims.