The Egypt train crash that killed seven people and injured more than 112 others on Sunday, 8 November, is the country’s deadliest railway accident in months, after two passenger trains collided south of Cairo and derailed several carriages in a district that has seen tragedy on the rails before.
The collision happened in the Al-Ayyat district of Giza province, about 52 kilometres (32 miles) south of Cairo, between the Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations, according to Egypt’s transportation ministry. A passenger train travelling from Giza towards Fayoum — Train No. 134, a Tahya Misr service — ran into the rear of Train No. 2010, which was travelling from Cairo towards Aswan and was stationary on the same track, officials said. The impact derailed several carriages, one of them onto a countryside road.
Egypt’s Health Ministry said seven people had been killed, including a driver, and 112 had been injured. The toll rose through the day: the ministry’s first count put the dead at four and the injured at 88, before hospitals reported more casualties. Sky News reported the injured figure as 114, citing the ministry, while Al Jazeera reported seven killed and more than 112 injured — the two figures reflect the same moving count at different points in the day, and neither is final. More than 70 ambulances were sent to the scene, and the injured were taken to nearby hospitals; one report said 45 of them had been discharged after treatment.
A rescue on the tracks
Emergency teams and heavy-duty cranes were sent to the site to clear the wreckage and restore services on the line, which links Cairo with southern Egypt, according to the Egyptian National Railways Authority. Witnesses described passengers being carried from the derailed carriages; one said he had seen around 80 of the injured taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals. The chief prosecutor’s office said late on Sunday that its investigators had arrived at the site, and Egypt’s Public Prosecution has opened an investigation into the technical circumstances of the collision.
An investigation ordered from the top
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he had ordered a prompt investigation into the crash and that anyone found to have been negligent should be held accountable, according to a statement reported by Reuters. In a social media post, the president said he had ordered the inquiry and demanded accountability for anyone found responsible.
The cause of the collision had not been officially established by Sunday evening. What is known is that one train ran into the back of another that was stationary on the same track — a sequence that puts the focus of the investigation on signalling, scheduling and whether the Fayoum-bound train should have been on that section of line at all. The prosecutors’ findings, and the ministry’s final casualty count, are the two figures to watch as the inquiry proceeds.
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