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Quake felt

AN EARTHQUAKE measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale shook parts of Egypt early Tuesday. No casualties or damage were reported.

The quake struck at 6.26am 70 kilometres south of the Greek island of Rhodes and 13km beneath the Aegean Sea, Salah Mahmoud, head of the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, said. The earthquake was felt in Alexandria, 561km from its epicentre, and on the Greek islands of Santorini and Crete.

According to Greek reports, a woman was killed after she tripped and hit her head while fleeing her home in panic.

Oil on the Nile

LARGE quantities of oil leaked into the Nile after a main oil pipeline belonging to the Helwan Cement plant burst. Oil spots could be seen dotting two kilometres of the Nile before the Cairo governorate, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the Holding Company for Drinking Water stepped in to stop the spread.

Speaking to the Al-Masry Al-Yom daily, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid said the speed of the Nile waters can break down and flush away the oil spots, adding that the Kafr Al-Elw Water Company which is near to the broken pipeline, had been immediately closed, and was to resume work within a few hours. Abu Zeid said ministry laboratories were taking samples from the water for analysis every hour.

Deputy to the Ministry of Petroleum Shamel Hamdi gave assurances the leakage had not affected drinking water. Water tank trucks made the rounds among residents of Kafr Al-Elw before the water company resumed operations.

Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George said the ministry would set up a committee to investigate the incident. George told Al-Masry Al-Yom that substances had been poured over the spots to absorb the oil which did not spread farther than Al-Maasara and Helwan districts. Areas like Garden City, Manial and Road Al-Farag were not affected. "Floating barriers have been released to prevent the oil from spreading," stated George.

Mysterious attack

A KNIFE-wielding attacker stabbed and wounded two policemen near the home of Interior Minister Habib El-Adli before being captured by police. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry identified the assailant, Ahmed Gouda, as having stabbed and wounded two policemen belonging to the minister's security unit at around 8.30pm on Monday. "The officers responded by opening fire and the attacker was wounded and taken to hospital," it added. The motives behind the attack remain unclear.

It was the first incident of its kind involving El-Adli who has been in office since November 1997.

Mansoura tragedy

FIVE people, including twin children, were killed and six others injured last week when a house collapsed in Mansoura. Preliminary investigations showed the house had 11 tenants, including an IT professor at Mansoura University, his mother, who owned the housed, and three siblings.

Rescue operations lasted for six hours. Firefighters used bulldozers to pull out the bodies and resorted to police dogs to search for survivors.

Deputy to the Ministry of Housing in Mansoura Mahmoud El-Agez said rubble from the three-storey house, which was built in 1923 and is 120 square metres, showed the building's concrete and other components had been decomposing.

A restoration order had been issued in 1976 ordering that the last floor be taken down but was never followed through. "Localities reported to the police that the restoration order had not been implemented but did nothing after that," stated El-Agez.

Every affected family will receive LE5,000, in addition to LE600 for each person killed and LE200 for every one injured.

Meanwhile, Daqahliya Governor Samir Salam set up a committee composed of the Ministry of Housing, the Faculty of Engineering and governorate officials to examine old buildings in the governorate and tear down all buildings deemed a safety hazard.

Compiled by Reem Leila