Train crash in Egypt kills 7, injures more than 125
Photo: REUTERS
A train collision on the outskirts of Cairo in Egypt’s Giza province claimed at least seven lives and injured more than 125 people, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Authorities reported that a Fayoum-bound train traveling from Giza slammed into the rear of a stationary train on the Cairo-to-Aswan route on Sunday. The heavy impact derailed the Aswan-bound train onto a rural road in the al-Ayyat district.
Following the crash, Egyptian National Railways dispatched emergency rescue personnel and heavy cranes to clear the wreckage and restore normal rail operations as quickly as possible. Officials deployed more than 70 ambulances to carry out evacuation and transport operations at the scene, rushing casualties to nearby hospitals.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he was watching developments “with great concern”, and instructed authorities to initiate an immediate inquiry to “hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent”.
Villagers, first responders, and railway workers faced chaotic conditions as they scrambled to reach victims trapped inside crumpled railcars.
Sitting at a nearby cafe when the collision occurred, 31-year-old Abdel Wahed Mohamed recounted that the Fayoum-bound train crashed into the stopped Aswan-bound train. He recalled, “The train overturned around 1:30 pm [11:30 GMT]. Six carriages overturned,” adding that victims suffered severe trauma, including head injuries and broken limbs.
Another eyewitness, 25-year-old Ahmed Moussa, described how rescuers dug beneath an overturned carriage to free trapped passengers. He said, “There were people piled on top of each other inside,” noting that he saw two women among the deceased.
Additionally, 43-year-old Taha Abdel Tawab recounted that he “saw a young man leaving the train carrying his dead father.”
The al-Ayyat district, where Sunday’s collision took place, also marks the location of Egypt’s worst-ever rail tragedy. In 2002, a devastating fire swept through a train carrying holiday travelers south of Cairo, killing over 370 people. Further train crashes in the same area in 2009 claimed dozens more lives.
Egypt’s 110 million citizens depend heavily on rail transport, relying on one of Africa’s largest cross-country networks, which urgently needs modernization. Although Egypt has invested billions of dollars over the past decade to upgrade overall transport infrastructure - including new highways and high-speed rail lines - it has yet to overhaul much of its aging conventional rail system.
Source: Al Jazeera (adapted)
