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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Deadly rockslide hits Cairo homes | Deadly rockslide hits Cairo homes |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| At least 20 people have been killed by a rockslide which destroyed homes in Cairo, emergency services say. | |
| Dozens of houses in the shanty town east of central Cairo were hit by huge boulders and rocks, reports said. | Dozens of houses in the shanty town east of central Cairo were hit by huge boulders and rocks, reports said. |
| Witnesses said a six-storey building in the impoverished Duwayqa district below the Muqattam hills had been completely reduced to rubble. | Witnesses said a six-storey building in the impoverished Duwayqa district below the Muqattam hills had been completely reduced to rubble. |
| Some people are believed to be still trapped in the rubble and police have cordoned off the area. | Some people are believed to be still trapped in the rubble and police have cordoned off the area. |
| At least 20 people are reported to have been injured and the number of casualties is expected to rise. | |
| Rockslide in pictures | |
| Reports said that at least eight boulders - each estimated to weigh about 70 tonnes - had fallen from the towering cliffs overlooking the district at about 0900 local time (0700 GMT). | |
| "It was horror," said Hassan Ibrahim Hassan, 80, whose house escaped the destruction. | "It was horror," said Hassan Ibrahim Hassan, 80, whose house escaped the destruction. |
| "The power went out, we heard a loud bang like an earthquake and I thought this house had collapsed. I went out, I saw the whole mountain had collapsed." | "The power went out, we heard a loud bang like an earthquake and I thought this house had collapsed. I went out, I saw the whole mountain had collapsed." |
| Witnesses described seeing hundreds of distraught people gathered around the site of the destruction, saying they had relatives and friends trapped under the rubble. | Witnesses described seeing hundreds of distraught people gathered around the site of the destruction, saying they had relatives and friends trapped under the rubble. |
| Some were scrabbling at the rocks with their bare hands. | |
| The remains of the town have been covered by a thick layer of dust. | |
| Rescue teams were forced to wait for the arrival of cranes and heavy lifting equipment to allow them to move the huge rocks.â I couldn't find my house this morning," said Mustafa Abdel-Fatah. "I could only see rocks on top of everything." | |
| It was not clear what had triggered the rockfall but a BBC correspondent says there have been previous landslides in the area. | |
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| The aftermath of the rockslide |