Egypt: 2 killed, 42 injured in rail crashes
Cargo train, workers’ minibus collide in Helwan
Cairo: Two people were killed and 42 injured in two separate train crashes in Egypt, authorities said, as the country has recently stepped up efforts to revamp the ageing service.
A locomotive Tuesday ploughed into the rear of a passenger train in the coastal city of Alexandria, leaving 37 injured, the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram reported, citing a local health official.
“The injuries are slight, resulting from a stampede,” Dr Saeed Mamoun, the Health Ministry’s undersecretary in Alexandria, added.
A carriage was also damaged in the accident.
Monday night, a cargo train had collided with a minibus carrying workers in south Cairo, killing two people and injuring six others, the Health Ministry said. The victims were workers at a textile factory, local media reported.
The collision took place in the residential area of Helwan where the bus used an illegal crossing and the driver of the train could not stop it, according to rail officials.
The train driver later turned himself in to police and underwent a drug test that showed a negative result, Transport Minister Kamel Al Wazir said in TV remarks.
In recent years, Egypt has seen a string of rail mishaps. In March, two passenger trains collided in the south city of Suhag, killing 22 people.
Egypt’s worst rail accident happened in 2002 in which at least 350 people were killed.