Staff Writer
One person was killed and five others were injured Thursday after a billboard collapsed in a prominent street as a result of a sandstorm that swept over Egypt’s capital, state television reported.
The storm “crushed” four vehicles on the October 6 motorway in the capital of Cairo, home to a population of 20 million people, according to the state flagship tabloid Al-Ahram.
Traffic authorities rushed to “remove the wreckage of the billboard and restore the movement of traffic”, the newspaper stated.
Sandstorms often wallop Egypt during the spring, creating respiratory difficulties, according to the health ministry.
Authorities blocked two ports along the Suez Canal on Thursday “due to bad weather conditions”, including intense winds and high waves accompanying the sandstorm.
Reduced visibility during a comparable storm in 2021 led to the massive cargo ship Ever Given getting jammed diagonally across the Suez Canal, slowing trade flows for over a week.
Egypt’s roads are notoriously dangerous and badly maintained, and drivers routinely flout speed limits and other traffic restrictions.
With a population of more than 105 million, Egypt is the Arab world’s most populated country.
