Train collision in Egypt kills at least 7, injures dozens

Two passenger trains collided some 76 km south of Cairo on Sunday, killing at least seven people and injuring 112, Reuters reported, citing Egypt’s health ministry.

The state ​railway authority said a train travelling from ​Giza to Fayoum hit the back of ⁠another heading from Cairo to Aswan, derailing several ​carriages.

Emergency crews were clearing the wreckage to restore ​services on the Cairo-Upper Egypt line, the railway authority said, without giving any indication of how long this would ​take.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered a swift ​investigation and said anyone found negligent should be held accountable, ‌according ⁠to a separate statement.

Egypt's public prosecutor's office said investigations were underway to determine the technical reasons behind the crash.

Egypt has one of the oldest ​and largest ​railway networks ⁠in the region and accidents involving casualties are common, though the government has ​been investing billions of Egyptian pounds ​to ⁠modernize the network, according to Reuters.

In the country's worst-ever rail disaster, a fire tore through seven carriages of an ⁠overcrowded ​passenger service in 2002, killing ​at least 360 people.