Two passengers were killed and several others suffered injuries in a train accident in Cairo on Tuesday, said the health ministry of Egypt after the latest rail tragedy in the country.
The ministry, in its statement, said that there were “two dead in the train accident at Qalyub, while the injured are in stable condition.”
The train accident took place in Qalyub, which is located north of Cairo in the Nile Delta.
The national rail authority of Egypt said that the accident happened when a passenger train while entering Qalyub station, ran through a stop signal.
“That led to the derailment of the locomotive and the first carriage,” the authority said in a statement. The pictures from the site of the accident showed the responders moving towards rail cars.
The officials said that an investigation into the cause of the accident is being carried out. Around 20 ambulances were sent to the accident site and the injured passengers were admitted to nearby hospitals, said health authorities.
A perimeter was formed by the police to hold back the people who had perched on the nearby walls. Later, a crane was brought to lift a derailed car which looked partially crumpled.
The rail accidents in Egypt have been blamed on poor maintenance and infrastructure.
Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir, in April 2021, fired the head of the rail authority after an uproar over the dilapidated train lines’ mismanagement.
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“The goal of these decisions is not merely about leadership changes of the authority but are in line with the next stage which demands… a complete upgrade of the railway network,” the transport ministry had stated at the time.
The changes “underway aim to provide better services, working around the clock to serve commuters and to upgrade… this essential service which transports millions of passengers yearly”, it added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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