Cairo: An Egyptian court has sentenced 11 people to death by hanging for involvement in a deadly gunfire over car washing, semi-official newspaper Al Ahram reported on Wednesday.
The sentences were issued by the Cairo Criminal Court on Tuesday against the 11 defendants convicted of murder, show of force and terrorizing the public, according to the report.
The convicts include six brothers.
The verdict can be appealed.
Two people were killed and five injured in the gunbattle that dates back to April last year in the working-class area of Old Cairo.
The court was told that the fight started with a fracas after one of the convicts blocked the traffic in a local street by washing cars as a source of a livelihood. Soon, the quarrel developed into a pitched fight between relatives of both sides, who used firearms.
The two dead were pedestrians, who were caught in the crossfire, according to police investigations.
In recent months, Egyptian authorities have toughened penalties against using water in car washing and spraying streets in an attempt to conserve water. Offenders can face a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh4,246) and a jail term of up to six months.
Egypt is worried that a disputed dam being constructed by Ethiopia on the Nile will cut Egypt’s share of the river’s waters.
Last week, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan—three riparian countries—failed to clinch a deal on the hydroelectric Renaissance Dam building.
