CAIRO — Two passenger trains collided near the Egyptian city of Giza, some 76 km south of Cairo on Sunday, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 100, the country’s health ministry said.
The state railway authority said a train travelling from Giza to Fayoum hit the back of another heading from Cairo to Aswan, derailing several carriages and fall down an embankment.
Emergency crews were clearing the wreckage to restore services on the Cairo-Upper Egypt line, the railway authority said, without giving any indication of how long this would take.
Images from the scene showed people looking inside overturned carriages for injured passengers as a massive emergency response was launched.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said he had ordered state authorities to “investigate the circumstances of the accident, and hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent”.
The public prosecutor’s office warned the death toll could rise.
The government said hospitals in the area had been put “on heightened alert” as they dealt with a massive influx of patients.
Egypt’s health minister Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said people were being treated for broken bones and head injuries.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said it was providing aid and psychological support to victims and their families at the scene.
The driver of one of the trains was among those who died in the crash, the ministry confirmed.
Images from the scene showed some carriages had overturned, with the body of at least one appearing to have split in two.
The collision occurred in the area between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in Al-Ayyat, close to where Egypt’s deadliest train tragedy occurred in February 2002, when a fire engulfed a passenger train travelling from Cairo to Luxor.
In that incident, more than 370 people were officially reported killed, although some estimates put the toll considerably higher.
Two further crashes in the area in 2009 killed dozens more.
There were calls in Egypt on Sunday for the transport minister to resign over the latest deadly rail disaster.
Foreign leaders and dignitaries have shared condolences and support for the victims.
Saudi Arabia’s ministry of foreign affairs expressed “solidarity” with Egypt and wished those hurt a speedy recovery.
Turkey’s ambassador to Egypt wrote on X that he extended “heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathy” to the victims, their families, and the Egyptian people.
Source: Saudi Gazette