East Cairo Prosecution has referred the director of Al-Azhar university’s student dormitories, Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim, and its catering director Adel Mahmoud Abdel-Hafez, to court on Tuesday on charges of negligence in relation to recent cases of food poisoning on campus.

The two face accusations of negligence and unintentional harm. The Nasr City Misdemeanour Court will hear the case on 19 June.

On 1 April, over 500 students were hospitalised with food poisoning after eating on campus. Less than one month later, 161 students became ill following a second food poisoning incident.

The university’s president was dismissed after the first food poisoning incident and also remains under investigation.

The twin scandal prompted mass demonstrations by students, some of whom called for the sacking of Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb, who oversees the Al-Azhar religious-educational system in Egypt.