28 Feb. - 6 March 2002
Issue No.575
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 Feb. - 6 March 2002 Issue No.575 |
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Murderous negligence
IN YET another negligence-related disaster, a four-storey building collapsed in the northern city of Damietta on Monday night leaving 22 people dead and 23 injured. Some of the victims were killed in the beauty salon on the ground floor when the building fell, of whom five were brides-to-be preparing for their weddings later that day.
It has been reported that local authorities ordered the building to be demolished two years ago, but its owners refrained from complying. The condemned building fronted the Nile in the town centre of Demietta, almost 200 kilometres northeast of Cairo.
Rescue teams worked overnight in search of survivors from the collapse while the anti-riot police surrounded the building, half of which remained intact.
Poised for rejection
EGYPT will contest the result of the investigation into the October 1999 crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 should it conclude that only an intentional act on the part of the co-pilot can explain the disaster, according to Mohsen El-Messiri, the EgyptAir pilot in charge of the Egyptian fact-finding mission. "If the US report contradicts the Egyptian statement on the reasons for the accident, Egypt will submit an objection to the US National Transportation commission into the accident," El-Messiri said.
Sources close to investigation said on 20 February that the US federal investigators had concluded that the crash of the EgyptAir Boeing 767 off the US Atlantic coast, in which all 217 people aboard died, happened as a result of intentional human action. The five presidential appointees who head the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) are reviewing the report, which will not become final until a majority of those members vote to accept it. Their votes are due this week.
The Egyptian government, the Civil Aviation Authority and EgyptAir have strongly rejected the allegations, saying that the plane's pilot was a well-balanced family man and an experienced pilot who could not have committed suicide.
More fire on the tracks
LESS than 48 hours after the disastrous Aswan rebound train, fire broke out aboard the Al-Sharqiya train commuting between two towns in the north-eastern governorate.
The train was pulling into the Abu Kebeir sidings when its driver noticed the fire in the last carriage. Fortunately, the train was not moving fast and no one was on board. The driver instantly disconnected the blazing carriage from the rest of the train and, with the help of bystanders, they were able to put the fire out with no loss of life.
Investigations are still ongoing to identify the reasons for this fire.
Priceless gift
THE HEIRS of an Egyptian antiquities dealer have donated more than 17,000 rare artefacts to the antiquities authorities. The collection, reported to be in excellent condition, include Pharaonic, Islamic and Coptic pieces.
A prehistoric mummy, dating from several thousand years prior to the emergence of the Pharaonic era, is among the priceless items.
The Pharaonic antiquities include a three-metre-long mummified crocodile worshipped in Pharaonic Egypt as the god Sobek, as well as mummies of cats, fish and birds. The collection also contains Islamic porcelain and decorated sections of early Coptic Christian church walls.
Legislation in 1983 restricted the antiquities trade by stipulating that any newly-discovered artefacts automatically fall in the public domain.
Civil issues agenda
MARY Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), is scheduled to meet today with Minister of Social Affairs Amina El-Guindi during her short visit to Egypt. The meeting will discuss the government's relationship with non-governmental organisations. Discussions are also expected to cover social issues related to human rights and those particular to children, in addition to the efforts made by all concerned ministries to put an end to the discrimination against women and the use of child labour.
Robinson's stop in Cairo is the first leg of her tour of the Middle East and Asia, which will also take her to Lebanon, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Compiled by Rana Allam
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