[1/5] A view shows the City of the Dead, where tombs and historic cemeteries have been demolished due to a new construction project underway on the Salah Salem road, in the capital city of Cairo, Egypt, June 13, 2023.
Known as the City of the Dead, the cemeteries along the eastern edge of Historic Cairo have been a resting place for Egypt's deceased since the arrival of Islam in the seventh century A.D.
Some tomb owners who want to transfer the bodies of their family members say they are given little time beforehand.
But only 102 sites among more than 2.5 million tombs in the area have received this designation, conservationists say.
"I imagine that in five years' time, we won't find anything except maybe 20% of the current City of the Dead," Lafi said.
Persons:
Salah, Hadeer Mahmoud, Sisi, Egypt's, Hisham Kassem, Abdel Fattah al, Ahmed Urabi, Hossam Abdel Azeem, Amr ibn, Moaaz, Lafi, Patrick Werr, Aidan Lewis, Emma Rumney
Organizations:
REUTERS, UNESCO, Thomson
Locations:
Salah Salem, Cairo, Egypt, CAIRO, Historic Cairo, el