Visitors returned Saturday to the ancient street of al-Moez Ledein Ellah al-Fatemy in the Azhar district of Cairo after a sewer pipe exploded yesterday, flooding the street with water and stopping traffic for most of the day.
The street, located in the famed Khan e-Khalili market, is one of the capitols most famous tourist attractions.
The water did not damage any of the centuries-old mosques or monuments on the avenue, said Mohsen Sayed Ali, head of the Islamic and Coptic monuments department at the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The pipe exploded on Friday 7 am and water continued to flow until 10 pm, when the Supreme Council of Antiquities filed a complaint at Gamaliya Police Station, said an employee at the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The water suction trucks, he said, did not arrive until the water was above pavements and had entered some of the buildings on the street.
Hassan, an antique shop owner, described the street as completely flooded. He said the incident had caused such a blockage of traffic that the suction vehicles could not enter the street.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
