Two trains crashed on Friday in southern Egypt, killing at least 32 people and injuring 108, according to the Health Ministry. It was the country’s deadliest rail accident since 2019.
Authorities said the crash occurred in Sohag province, about 400 kilometres south of the capital, Cairo.
A statement by the ministry did not give the cause of the crash, but Egypt's railway authority said the first train's emergency brakes were triggered by unknown individuals, causing the train to come to a stop.
It was not immediately known whether authorities suspected terrorism or vandalism.
The railway authority said that a train travelling from the city of Luxor in southern Egypt to Alexandria on the Mediterranean made an unscheduled stop in the Tahta area.
Another train, approaching from behind, collided with it, overturning two cars.
The engine car of the second train, which was travelling from the southern city of Aswan to Cairo, was derailed.
The Health Ministry said 36 ambulances rushed to the scene of the collision. Pictures on local media showed train carriages derailed above a channel of water.
ولقد وجهت رئاسة الوزراء وكافة الأجهزة المعنية بالتواجد بموقع الحادث والمتابعة المستمرة وموافاتي بكافة التطورات والتقارير المتعلقة بالموقف على مدار اللحظة. على أن ينال الجزاء الرادع كل من تسبب في هذا الحادث الأليم بإهمال أو بفساد أو بسواه، دون استثناء ولا تلكؤ ولا مماطلة.
— Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) March 26, 2021
Online video and images from the site, a rural area by the side of a canal, showed a chaotic scene, with dozens of civilians and members of rescue teams sifting through the wreckage looking for survivors. Bodies of victims were covered with white sheets and laid next to the wreckage.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi extended his condolences to the families of those killed and said he had sent the country's prime minister, Mustafa Madbouli, to the site with instructions to keep him updated.
He vowed that anyone found to have caused Friday’s crash, whether through negligence or corruption, would be brought to justice.
"The pain in our hearts today will only increase our determination to put an end to this type of disaster," he wrote on social media.
Train accidents are not uncommon in Egypt, where the rail network is stretched thin and the signal system is antiquated. Egypt has spent 40 billion pounds ($2.55bn) on upgrading its railway network in the past six years and plans to spend 141 billion pounds more in the next few years.
Friday’s crash was the deadliest rail accident since February 2019 when an engine car laden with fuel hit a wall at Cairo’s main train station, igniting a fire that killed 22 and injured scores.
In 2017, two passenger trains collided in northern Egypt, killing at least 41 people and injuring more than 120.
We express our deepest condolences to the government & people of Egypt for the terrible train collision in Sohag. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and we wish the injured a speedy recovery. In solidarity, we will postpone the trilateral summit to the near future.
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