Egypt Train Crash: At Least 4 Dead, 88 Hurt South of Cairo
At least four people were killed and 88 injured on Sunday, November 8, when two passenger trains collided south of Cairo and sent carriages off
At least four people were killed and 88 injured on Sunday, November 8, when two passenger trains collided south of Cairo and sent carriages off the tracks, the Health Ministry said.
The crash happened in al-Ayyat district, Giza province, about 32 miles south of the Egyptian capital. A train heading to the southwestern province of Fayoum rammed into the back of a train bound for Aswan in the south, according to the Transportation Ministry.
Another account puts the toll higher. Authorities cited in separate reports said seven people died and 114 were injured, and the Chief Prosecutor's Office said the conductor of one train was among the dead. Officials fear the number of fatalities could still rise as rescuers search the wreckage.
The Transportation Ministry said one of the trains derailed but did not say which. Other accounts describe several carriages overturning or leaving the tracks and tumbling down an embankment. The collision took place near the Gerza junction.
The Aswan-bound train had made an unscheduled stop when the collision occurred, according to authorities. Investigators have confirmed both trains were traveling in the same direction.
At least 52 ambulances went to the scene. Injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Giza and Beni Suef, and Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar ordered both to "raise their level of preparedness and provide the necessary emergency and medical care to those injured."
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in a social media post that he had ordered a prompt investigation to hold those responsible accountable. The Egyptian Railway Authority said emergency teams and cranes were sent to clear the wreckage so services could return to their normal schedule as soon as possible.
Al-Ayyat has a grim record. The area has been dubbed the "Bermuda Triangle of train crashes," and it was the site of Egypt's worst rail disaster in 2002, when a fire swept through packed carriages and killed more than 383 people. In an earlier incident in the same district, a driver and his assistant were injured when two freight trains collided.
Train accidents in Egypt are frequently blamed on human error at level crossings and on signal malfunctions.
