People in Kourimat, south of Helwan, laid siege to a power plant in the town for the second day today. They used knives and ricks to prevent the day workers from entering the compound and the night workers from leaving. The people want the station to hire their sons. A security source told Youm7 that the siege began with 50 people and increased to 300. Most of the people are from the villages surrounding the power plant and began to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the plant. They blocked all entrances to the plant and prevented workers from entering or leaving. Some people have been blocked inside the plant for 40 hours. The source said there have been no casualties among the workers, but that there might be some casualties among the police. Egypt's Minister of Electricity is coordinating with the military to protect the station and its workers. The station provides 200 megawatts of electricity and its investments are estimated at 10 billion EGP, according to the ministry's official spokesman. All efforts to persuade the people of Kourimat to leave the station's gates and let workers enter have failed, according to workers.
