Two passenger trains have collided south of Cairo, killing seven people and injuring 112, in the latest deadly crash on Egypt’s troubled railway network.
Key Points
- Egypt train collision Cairo — a Giza-to-Fayoum train crashed into the rear of a stationary Cairo-to-Aswan service on Sunday.
- Seven people were killed, including the train’s conductor, and 112 were injured, with more than 70 discharged after treatment.
- The crash happened in Al-Ayyat district in Giza province, about 52 kilometres south of Cairo, derailing several carriages.
- President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered a swift investigation and said anyone found negligent should be held accountable.
The Egyptian National Railways Authority said the accident happened between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations, when a train travelling from Giza to the southwestern Fayoum province hit the back of another heading from Cairo to the southern city of Aswan. Several carriages derailed, some of them sliding down an embankment. Emergency crews and cranes were deployed to the site to clear the wreckage and restore services on the Cairo to Upper Egypt line, which was suspended after the crash.
The health ministry said 112 people were injured and were being treated in hospitals around the Giza area, with victims suffering broken bones and head trauma. More than 70 of the injured had been discharged after treatment, and the chief prosecutor’s office said its investigators had arrived at the site on Sunday evening. The train’s conductor was among those killed.
A district with a grim railway history
The crash took place in Al-Ayyat, the site of Egypt’s worst-ever rail disaster: in February 2002, a train fire there officially killed more than 370 people. The area saw two further deadly collisions in 2009. Egypt’s railways have suffered a series of fatal accidents over the years, and each one has brought promises of reform and investment in signalling and safety systems.
President el-Sisi said in a social media post that he was following the accident “with great concern” and had directed authorities to conduct an urgent investigation to “hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent”. The public prosecutor’s office said investigations were under way to determine the technical reasons behind the crash.
What happens next
Investigators will now establish why the Fayoum-bound train ran into the back of the stationary Aswan service — whether through a signalling failure, human error or a technical fault. Until the wreckage is cleared and the line is declared safe, trains between Giza and Upper Egypt remain suspended, stranding passengers across the south of the country.
For background on Egypt in the news, see our report on Egypt sacking coach Hossam Hassan over the team’s image, and on a US senator blaming military aid for Egypt’s press crackdown. More in our World News section.
Sources: Reuters via Tribune, “Train collision in Egypt kills seven“; NHK World, “Egypt train collision kills at least 7, injures over 110“.