Passenger train crashes in Egypt

An Egyptian passenger train has derailed and caught fire in a suburb near Cairo, causing a number of injuries, security and medical sources said, denying early reports that passengers had died in the crash. .

A security official said the train, coming from the town of Sohag, 500km south of the capital, crashed into a stationary train near the Giza suburb of El-Badrasheen, 30km from Cairo.

Five of the 15 carriages were overturned. Fifteen people were injured.

“Three wagons of train number 990 came off the tracks without any loss of life… The injured received treatment in
hospital and were able to leave,” said Kamal el-Daly, head of Giza police investigations department.

Egyptians complain that successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards on the country’s railways, leading to a string of deadly accidents.

The railway system’s poor safety record has long been blamed on badly maintained equipment and poor management.

Egypt’s worst railway disaster took place in February 2002 when a train heading to southern Egypt caught fire, killing 363 people.

In August 2006, a passenger train barreling toward a station collided with a second train, killing 58 people.