Train collision near Cairo kills at least seven, Al Jazeera reports

Two trains collided south of Cairo in Egypt’s Giza province, derailing a passenger train and sending casualties to nearby hospitals. Al Jazeera reported that at least seven people were killed and more than 112 injured, citing Egypt’s Health Ministry. CBS News reported an earlier ministry toll of at least four dead and 88 wounded.

The collision occurred in the al-Ayyat district, about 32 miles south of Cairo, according to CBS News. A train travelling toward the southwestern province of Fayoum struck the rear of another heading to the southern province of Aswan, the Transportation Ministry said.

Al Jazeera reported that the train on the Cairo-to-Aswan route derailed onto a countryside road and that carriages overturned. CBS News, citing the Transportation Ministry, reported that one train had derailed but said the ministry did not specify which one. The outlet also reported that a train driver was among those killed, according to the Health Ministry.

Emergency crews and cranes went to the scene to clear wreckage and restore train service, the railway authority said. More than 70 ambulances took part in transport and evacuation operations, Al Jazeera reported, citing authorities. The injured were taken to hospitals nearby.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in a social media post that he was following the aftermath “with great concern” and extended his “deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.”

“I have directed state agencies to provide the necessary medical care, promptly investigate the circumstances of the accident and hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent,” he wrote.

The crash took place in a district with a history of deadly rail accidents. Al Jazeera reported that al-Ayyat was the site of Egypt’s worst rail disaster: a 2002 fire on a train carrying holiday travellers that killed more than 370 people. Multiple train crashes in the area killed dozens in 2009, the outlet reported. CBS News reported that a train driver and his assistant were injured when two freight trains collided in the same district last September.

Egypt has spent billions of dollars over the past decade on transport infrastructure, including new highways and high-speed rail lines, but much of its older rail network has yet to be overhauled. Al Jazeera reported that the country’s 110 million people depend heavily on rail travel and that its cross-country network is among the largest in Africa.