Egypt Train Collision Near Cairo Kills Seven and Injures 112
Rescuers worked through the evening to free trapped passengers as the president ordered an urgent investigation into the deadly crash.
Egypt – (Staff Reporter/Web Desk) – An Egypt train collision south of Cairo on Sunday killed seven people and hurt more than 100 others. Several carriages overturned when one train hit another from behind, the authorities said.
Egypt’s railway authority said a train from Giza to Fayoum crashed into the back of another train. That train was heading south from Cairo to Aswan.
The health ministry said 112 people were hurt. Doctors are treating them in hospitals around Giza. Their injuries include bruises, broken arms and legs, pelvis and spine fractures, and head and chest wounds.
Forty-five patients have already gone home. Seven more are expected to leave hospital soon.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was following the crash “with great concern.” He ordered a fast investigation and said anyone found negligent must face accountability.
Witnesses described scenes of panic. Villagers, rescue teams and railway workers rushed to reach people trapped inside the wrecked carriages.
Abdel Wahed Mohamed, 31, was sitting at a nearby cafe. He said the Aswan-bound train had stopped when the other train hit it. Six carriages overturned at about 1:30 pm, he said.
Ahmed Moussa, 25, said rescuers dug under one carriage to reach passengers. He said people were piled on top of each other inside. He also saw two women among the dead.
Another witness, Taha Abdel Tawab, 43, said he saw a young man leave the train carrying his dead father.
AFP journalists saw carriages scattered across the tracks and nearby farmland. One lay on its side, and another was torn open, showing twisted metal and broken seats.
Workers used cranes and heavy machinery to lift the carriages. Ambulances carried the injured to nearby hospitals.
The crash happened in Al-Ayyat, in Giza. This area saw Egypt’s worst rail disaster in 2002, when a fire killed more than 370 people. Several crashes in 2009 also killed dozens.
Millions of Egyptians rely on trains every day. Egypt has spent billions on new roads and fast rail, but much of its old rail network is still not fixed.
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