Seven passengers were killed and 112 others injured yesterday after one train ran into the back of another in Egypt’s Giza Governorate, near Cairo, throwing several passenger carriages off the tracks. The crash happened near El-Ayyat, on the line that carries Cairo-Aswan services, with the Health Ministry describing the first casualty count as preliminary.

 

Seventy-two ambulances rushed to the scene to carry the wounded to hospitals. Of the injured, 49 were taken to El-Wasta Hospital, 29 to El-Ayyat Hospital and 10 to Atfih Hospital. Four bodies were initially recovered, two of them at El-Wasta Hospital, one at Atfih Hospital and one at the site.

 

Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar directed all hospitals in Giza and Beni Suef to be on high alert and ensure that the injured received every form of emergency and medical care. In a social media post, the Health Ministry said, Health Minister monitors emergency and medical services following the El-Ayyat train accident in Giza Governorate.

 

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered an investigation into the crash and said anyone found negligent would be held to account. Sisi, reacting on social media, said he was following the aftermath with great concern.<>