SHAKE AND BLOW
Egypt police disperse flood victims with rubber bullets

Egyptians cross a flooded area in the Egyptian town of Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip on January 20, 2010. Flash floods and heavy rains have left 10 dead in Sinai and southern Egypt. Hundreds of homes have also been destroyed. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
 El-Tor, Egypt (AFP) Jan 20, 2010
 Egyptian police used tear-gas and rubber bullets on Wednesday to disperse residents of a Sinai town devastated by floods as they protested against lack of government aid, an AFP correspondent said.

Two policemen were injured in the clashes, medics said, while residents of Abu Sweira on Sinai's west coast spoke of at least one person being hit by a rubber bullet.

Nearly 1,000 residents of the town used their trucks to block the main road to the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, burning tyres and throwing stones at police.

Residents, many of whom have been made homeless by the floods, were angry at government delays in providing assistance.

"What are we going to do with 100 pounds (18 dollars) and a cheap blanket?" asked Sheikh Mohammed Abu Salama, a Bedouin resident of the town.

Flash floods and heavy rains have since late Sunday left 10 dead in Sinai and southern Egypt. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, mainly in Abu Sweira, the northern Sinai town of El-Arish and the city of Aswan in southern Egypt.

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SHAKE AND BLOW
Seven dead as Egypt pounded by rains and floods
 El Tor, Egypt (AFP) Jan 18, 2010
 At least seven people died in flash floods and heavy rains in southern Egypt and Sinai on Monday, including a British tourist who drowned when his boat capsized on the Nile, officials said. The Ras Sidr area on the west coast of the Sinai peninsula saw the heaviest flooding on Sunday night, forcing rescuers to use rubber rafts to search for injured people and those trapped in their homes. ... read more
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