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8 killed in flash floods in Egypt's Delta

Xinhua, November 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least eight people were killed on Wednesday in the flash floods that resulted from heavy rains in Egypt's Delta province of Beheira, state-run Ahram news website reported.

Six people, whose ages varied between 19 and 64, died of the floods in Wadi al-Natroun city of Beheira, some 130 km north of the capital Cairo, while other two were struck to death by a lightning due to the heavy rains in Abu Hommos district of the same province.

The Health Ministry said that 16 people have been hospitalized due to the heavy rains, 13 of them have been treated and discharged, and the ministry sent 20 ambulances with specialized medical teams to contain the situation.

In late October, at least seven people died of similar windy and rainy weather in the country's Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The governor of Alexandria, as a result, was sacked for not being prepared for such seasonal floods.

The coastal cities of Alexandria and Beheira as well as the Sinai Peninsula usually witness flash floods and heavy rains in winter but not every year.

"This does not happen to all coastal cities every year and it depends on the distribution of lightning," Wahid Saudi, media spokesman of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority, told Xinhua.

"Such an unstable weather is expected to continue until Friday," he added. Endit