Train collision in Egypt kills at least 7, injures dozens

2 minute read

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.

English Հայերեն Русский