CAIRO: A total of 80 vehicles, left abandoned on streets of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, were lifted in the past two days, traffic authority source told Youm7 Tuesday.
“We often lift vehicles that are either with no plates or with old ones along with dilapidated vehicles left unattended for long time. Bomb squads check them first for potential explosive devices before they are taken to the department’s open yard for unlicensed and damaged vehicles,” lieutenant colonel Mohamed Al Faham of Alexandria Traffic Department told Youm7 Tuesday.
A nationwide security campaign against abandoned vehicles has been intensified following the Saturday car bomb blast that hit the Italian Consulate in downtown Cairo. The attack claimed the life of a street vendor and injured at least a dozen.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab has instructed traffic authorities to develop short-term plans to remove abandoned vehicles left on streets which may be used in “terrorist attacks,” Youm7 reported.
During the past two days, 1,400 vehicles have been lifted from Cairo streets and were removed to the junk yard of Cairo traffic dept,” Director of Cairo Traffic Department Major General Hamdy Hadidy told Youm7 Tuesday.