CAIRO: The death toll of the Duweiqa rockslide crossed the century mark two weeks after massive boulders slid off the edge of Moqattam onto the shantytown below.
Reports indicate that 101 bodies have been recovered from the debris, and estimates are that there are hundreds of bodies still buried beneath it.
The slow pace of recovery of the bodies has led to concerns over potential health hazards for the residents of Duweiqa.
The chief of the Institute for Forensic Medicine Sebaiy Ahmed Sebaiy has warned about the possibility of a health threat from the decaying bodies of victims still un-recovered or not buried properly.
The forensic chief said that if the bodies were not recovered quickly enough, or already recovered bodies were not properly buried, then the only solution was to fill the gaps between the boulders and turn the disaster site into a mass grave.
A source from the Civil Defense Authority told Al-Masry Al-Youm that it would take another two months for the bodies to be recovered, and claimed that the use of police dogs had confirmed that there are still hundreds of bodies beneath the rubble.
Fears persist over a repeat of the rockslide at any point along the cliff of the mountain. The council has evacuated the surrounding area, but there are concerns from surviving residents over the possibility that the relocation process has ended for now.
Residents in the area have been promised that they would be relocated to new apartments built by a grant from Gulf states but have complained that corruption and bribery has prevented them from attaining them.
Hamdy Abdel-Aal, a resident of Duweiqa said at a protest at the Journalists’ Syndicate last week, “As for the flats we were supposed to relocate to, 21 were given to government officials as gifts to facilitate their interests. Another 45 flats were taken by the Interior Ministry.
As for the rest, 95 percent were given to people from other areas, not from [the greater area of] Manshiyet Nasser.
“Unfortunately the officials know that Manshiyet Nasser is a shantytown and no one is interested in the people living there because they are poor, he added.
