Published on : Monday, April 19, 2021
At least 11 people dead and nearly 100 have been injured after a passenger train derailed near Egypt’s capital city and country’s tourist hub Cairo. The four wagons attached to the train came off tracks, in the city of Banha in Qalyubia province, railway authorities confirmed.
The shocking footage shared on social media shows the carts overturned as terrified passengers crawled to safety.
The packed train was travelling to the Nile Delta city of Mansoura from the Egyptian capital when it flew off the tracks.
At least 98 people were injured with a fleet of 60 ambulances racing to the scene – while salvage teams searched among the capsized carriages for survivors. The MOST injuries were minor but there were a few critical cases, health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed confirmed. The investigators have now launched a probe into the cause of the horrific crash.
The tragedy is the third rail accident to occur in Egypt in less than a month. In a similar scenario last week, at least 15 people were injured when train carriages derailed in the Nile Delta province of Sharqia.
Three weeks ago, two passenger trains collided near the Nile-side town of Tahta – killing at least 32 and injuring around 200 other commuters, including children.
According to prosecutors, the driver and his assistant left their cabin before the horror smash on March 26, which sparked national outrage.
Unconscious and bleeding victims could be seen in the wreckage as bystanders carried bodies and laid them out on the ground. The train wrecks and accidents are commonplace in Egypt, which is generally attributed to poor infrastructure and maintenance of the system.
The increase in collisions prompted the government to announce its launch of a broad renovation and modernization initiative, to combat the issue.
In March 2018, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said around 250 billion Egyptian pounds (£11.5 billion) is needed to update the accident-prone rail system.
In 2002, more than 300 people were killed when a fire erupted in an overnight train travelling from Cairo to southern Egypt – marking the country’s deadliest rail crash.
|
||||
   
|
||||
  |
||||
