18 Egyptians killed in rock slide near Cairo

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Massive boulders weighing dozens of tons smashed down on an Egyptian shanty town Saturday on the outskirts of the capital killing at least 18 people, a security official said. At least eight boulders, some the size of small houses, fell from the towering Muqattam cliffs outside Cairo and buried some 50 homes in the massive Manshiyet Nasr slum, one of the shanty towns ringing Africa's most populous city. The official said 35 people were injured and many people are still believed to be buried under the hundreds of tons of rock that fell. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. The remains of the town were covered by a thick layer of dust and the scene was chaotic as men and women screamed in grief. People tried to lift the massive rocks by hand calling out the names of relatives and family members stuck under the debris.