CAIRO, Nov 17: Swarms of pink locusts swept through Cairo on Wednesday in scenes that recalled the biblical plague of Egypt. The swarms flew high above tall towers or swooped down onto tree lined streets, where scared pedestrians stamped on them or ran for cover.

The flying insects arrived from neighbouring Libya after devouring the countryside in central and western Africa in past months. But locust experts said they were unlikely to wreak similar havoc in Egypt, where agriculture is a cornerstone of the economy.

"This is really horrible," said one man as he ran past a building where locusts, some of them more than three inches (7.6 cm) long, smacked into office windows or landed on cars.

Some of the locusts, which arrived and disappeared in waves, settled on shrubs and trees. Authorities battled swarms at Cairo international airport, but flights were unaffected.

"They are driven by strong winds ... Under current climatic conditions they will not likely cause damage," Christian Pantenius, a locust expert with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told Reuters.

Pantenius said the locusts would not feed actively when the temperature was under 30 degrees Celsius. Forecasts put Cairo's temperature for the coming days at below 25°C.

Pantenius said the locusts were arriving in medium-sized swarms. "They will very likely either die or migrate further to the south," he said, adding that the Saudi and Sudanese authorities had been alerted. Agriculture is a key sector of the Egyptian economy, employing millions in the North African country, which has a population of about 70 million. -Reuters