On Saturday morning, massive rocks weighing hundreds of tons tumbled down the Muqattam hill onto one of Cairo's poorest and most densely populated areas.

Rescuers were forced to work with their bare hands and minimal equipment until a route could be cleared through narrow streets to bring the bulldozers and other heavy equipment to the area.

However, rescue workers say that even with the bulldozers it will take days to remove all the rocks and reach any remaining survivors. The death toll is likely to rise.

Witnesses say that some of those trapped under the rubble and rocks contacted their relatives by mobile phone after the rockslide to call for help.

Some 100,000 people left homeless by the rock fall had to spend the night in the streets despite the government's earlier pledge to provide them with temporary shelter and compensation.

The residents of the shanty town are now being evicted from their houses after the government decided to demolish all undamaged dwellings in the area amid fears that other rock falls might follow. However, it is unlikely that alternative permanent accommodation will be provided for the now-homeless shanty town residents as the area was put up without official permission.

Local residents have also begun to show their resentment over the government's rescue efforts and their forced eviction from the area, throwing stones at police officers and other officials.

According to preliminary information, the rocks could have been dislodged by leaks from an improvised sewage system that gradually eroded parts of the limestone mountain. Another theory is that the disaster was caused by construction work on top of Muqattam.

Egypt often makes headlines due the collapse of poorly constructed buildings. In late December 2007, a 12-storey building collapsed in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, killing 27 people.