Cairo: A speeding train crashed into a passenger car in Egypt’s famed ancient city of Luxor, killing five people, Egyptian media reported Wednesday, citing security sources.
Four others were injured in the accident that occurred Tuesday when a goods train ploughed into the car at an illegal rail crossing in the southern city, they added.
The car got stuck into the rail tracks and the incoming train hit it, witnesses said.
The driver of the car survived the crash and escaped from the site, but was arrested later.
After the crash, the state-run rail authority urged motorists and pedestrians across Egypt to use only authorized crossings.
In recent years, Egyptian authorities have sought to remove illegal rail crossings near residential areas after a series of accidents.
Locals in such areas are blamed for setting up the illegal crossings that provide a short-cut for their movement.
Egypt has a bad record of rail tragedies.
Last February, 21 people were killed after an unmanned speeding train crashed into a concrete platform at Cairo’s main rail station, sparking a huge fire.
Egypt’s worst rail tragedy occurred in 2002 when 373 people were killed in a fire on a passenger train.
