An Egyptian criminal court in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour sentenced five defendants to death for vandalising a gas pipeline last year, leading to several deaths.

Nine people were killed and almost a dozen injured in a fire in November 2019 in Itay El-Baroud in Beheira governorate that resulted from a gas leak after an attempt to steal gas from a pipeline.

The court on Thursday also sentenced five others to life in prison for their involvement in the attack.

Late last month, the court referred the case of those who received the death sentences to the grand mufti, Egypt’s top Muslim religious authority, to give his opinion on the sentence .

Under Egyptian law, the mufti’s opinion is not legally binding.

Thursday’s sentences can still be appealed before an appeals court.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/366037.aspx