A Manshiyet Nasser misdemeanor court has handed down sentences to a number of top Cairo officials for the September 2008 rockslide in Duweiqa that killed more than 100 people. Mahmoud Yassin, the assistant Cairo governor for the Western region, received a five-year prison sentence and bail set at LE5000 after being convicted of negligent homicide in 199 cases and the accidental injury of another 55. Eight other officials received three-year jail sentences and bail of LE3000. The ruling was adopted by Counselor Khaled Mahgoub. One member of the victims' families hailed the verdict, while another woman, who lost nine kids in the rockslide, complained that the penalty wouldn't stand if the officials pay their bail. A member of Yassin's staff shouted that the ruling was unfair and denied his boss's the responsibility for the calamity. Earlier investigations found the officials guilty of knowingly ignoring reports by geological surveys that took place 14 months before the accident, warning of the danger and demanding an evacuation of the area. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
