Victims of Al-Doweeqa Rockslide Reach 60 Killed: Unofficial Sources

Unofficial sources and eyewitnesses stated that the number of killed increased to 60 on Sunday afternoon in the rockslide that hit Al Muqattam district last Saturday, Ikhwanweb reporter said. An official source stated that the number of victims reached 34 dead people and other 42 injured on Sunday at dawn.

 

The Rescue Units of Civil Defense Forces and Armed Forces continued on Sunday their work on searching for any survivors alive or dead under the rubble of the rockslide in Al-Mokattam in Al-Doweeqa area.

 

A lot of equipments and excavators were used in the rescue operations, with the help of equipments belonging to The Arab Contractors Company, Ikhwanweb reporter said.

 
The rescue forces removed and evacuated 13 houses near the site of the rockslide; they also removed the railway line of the armed forces, to pave a way for the arrival of the rescue equipments.

 

It is reported that there were altercations between the security and the residents because of the security forces’ rejection to let them contribute to the rescue operations.

 
The residents of the area mentioned that there was a rockslide in the same area four months ago, but there were no losses or accidents, so the district did not take any steps or reacted after the previous rockslide.

“The reason behind this rockslide may be for drawing water of sanitary drainage     by people living on the high level of Al-Mokattam , which led to the erosion of the lime layer at the bottom of the rocks, which led to the rockslide,” the residents said.

 
“We have received several calls from victims under the rubble, and still alive, trying to report on their places under the rubble, so we informed the authorities about them, but they have not rescue those people yet,” the residents said.

 
The security forces banned the journalists, the media, the satellite channels reporters, human rights activists and the civil society, to access the site, which seems as a sort of media blackout on the disaster.