Cairo: An Egyptian nuclear scientist has died in Morocco where he was attending a workshop, Egyptian authorities have said.
According to the Egyptian Authority, Abu Bakr Abdul Moneim, a senior official at the state Nuclear-Radioactive Monitoring Authority, died on Thursday at a hospital in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh after he felt unwell while attending the workshop of the International Atomic Energency Agency (IAEA).
After the news of Abdul Moneim’s death became public, claims circulated on social media suggested that he might have died of poisoning.
In the past years, several Egyptian nuclear scientists died in mysterious circumstances in their home country or abroad amid allegations they were killed by foreign agencies coveting their research efforts.
An autopsy ordered by the Moroccan chief prosecutor found that Abdul Moneim died of a heart attack, the statement said.
The Egyptian embassy in Morocco said a hospital report confirmed the scientist had died as a result of an acute heart attack.
His body is expected to be flown to Egypt on Tuesday for burial in his hometown Qaliubia north of Cairo, Egyptian media said.
