CAIRO (AFP) — At least 82 people were killed in a massive rockslide that crushed dozens of homes in a Cairo slum a week ago, a security official said on Saturday.
The previous official toll of the number of dead after giant boulders flattened dozens of homes in the shantytown of Manshiyet Nasser was 72.
Soldiers and emergency services have tunnelled underneath the enormous rocks that crashed down on dozens of homes last Saturday as the search continues for more bodies in the rubble.
The official said the rescue effort would continue for at least another week.
Entire families are believed to have been buried under the pile of debris which extends to a depth of 15 metres (50 feet).
Estimates of the number of people killed in the early morning disaster -- it happened when many people were still at home -- have been put at 500 by some television channels.
Most of the brick-built dwellings in the district have two floors and were put up without permission.
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.
Angry locals have also clashed with the authorities over what they say is their slow and inefficient response.
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.
Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
