By Ramadan A. Kader People swelter as one heatwave after the other scorches the country. The way out? Rushing to the seaside beaches and make a splash in refreshing water. But, holidaymakers at a famous seaside spot in the Mediterranean Sea city of Alexandria were last week in for an unpleasant surprise. The city's Governor Mohamed Sultan ordered the closure of Al Nakheel beach in the district of el-Agami after a spike in drownings there. Fourteen deaths have been reported off the beach since the start of summer in mid-June. Local authorities enforced the closure order, barring holidaymakers from having access to the place, dubbed in the media "The Beach of Death". Local officials said that the move was necessary for public safety. Iron barriers were deployed to stop people from reaching the site. Even though, some visitors, anxious to beat the heat, continue to circumvent the ban and make a splash, one official said. "They risk their lives," Ahmed Hegazy, the head of Alexandria summer resorts department, told private newspaper Al-Shorouk. He added that they promise not to swim farther than 10 metres off the notorious beach. "They say they have come from the end of the world in order to enjoy the sea. But drowning can happen in a distance less than this."
