The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Revisiting the Beni Suef fire

Remember the Beni Suef fire scandal last September? Well a verdict has come out on who's responsible:

CAIRO, May 22 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced eight government employees, including the head of a cultural body, to 10 years in jail each on Monday for negligence over a theatre fire last year that killed 46 people, a judicial official said.
The official said that Mostafa Elwy, head of the authority for cultural centres who was among those convicted, was also a member of the ruling National Democratic Party's policies committee. The rest also worked for the Culture Ministry.
The official said the men were responsible for the running of the overall administration of state-run theatres throughout the country.
A lot of people were calling for Mostafa Elwy's head back then. It was given to them instead of Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni's. My question: what new fire safety procedures have been implemented?

See you at the next disaster.