32 killed, Multiple Injured As Trains Collide In Egypt

Two passenger trains collided in Egypt’s Sohag province, killing 32people and multiple injuries were reported.

According to the reports, in the incident that took place on Friday, the bogies of the trains collided with each other, while in the video that appeared on social media after the incident, it can be seen that the passengers are trapped in the trains.

#مصر.. ضحايا باصطدام قطارين في #سوهاجhttps://t.co/m65G76hCOf#صحيفة_الخليج#الخليج_خمسون_عاماً pic.twitter.com/F7UdjNfjG9

— صحيفة الخليج (@alkhaleej) March 26, 2021

In the above mentioned social media videos, it can be seen that the condition of several passengers is critical while many of them are bleeding.

A statement from Egypt’s health ministry said 32 people had been killed and 66 injured.

He added that 50 people injured in the incident were shifted to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.

Railway officials said that the trains collided after an emergency brake was used by an unknown person.

He said an emergency brake caused one train to stop and another to follow, colliding with it. Authorities said they were investigating the incident.

Preliminary photos of a collision accident two trains in the governorate of Sohag, south of Egypt pic.twitter.com/gIBmVDo7Yr

— spriters (@neccamc1) March 26, 2021

On the other hand, a statement issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that an investigation into the incident has been ordered.

The report quoted Reuters as saying that unidentified security sources said the trains were slow, which damaged only two bogies.

حاجز تصادم جديد في مصر!
قطارين في #سوهاج وضحايا جدد من المصريين!
#مصر pic.twitter.com/qzDRkVlToe

— Magda Mahfouz (@magdaMahfouzeg) March 26, 2021

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi later said in a statement on the social networking site Twitter that those responsible for the incident, whether they were negligent or corrupt or responsible for something similar, were immediately punished.

On the other hand, according to state TV, he further said in his message that he has directed the Prime Minister of the country Mustafa Madboli to visit the accident site with the Minister of Health.

It should be noted that Egypt has the world’s oldest and largest railway system where such accidents are common.

According to official statistics, there were 1,793 railway accidents in the country in 2017.

Earlier this year, two passenger trains collided in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, killing 43 people.

In 2016, 51 people were killed when two trains collided in Cairo.

It should be noted that the 2002 accident was the most dangerous in the history of Egypt, in which 300 people were killed due to a fire in a moving train.