Four people were killed and 88 others were injured when two trains collided south of Egypt's capital on Sunday, according to authorities. The crash, which occurred in the Al-Ayyat area of Giza, caused several carriages to derail.
Egypt’s railway authority stated that a train traveling from Giza to Fayoum crashed into the rear of another service that was heading south from Cairo to the city of Aswan.
The health ministry reported an initial count of four passengers killed, with 88 others currently being treated in hospitals across the Giza area. State-owned media had previously reported 120 people were wounded, though they did not clarify the severity of those injuries.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said he is following the accident “with great concern” and has ordered an urgent investigation to “hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent”.
Emergency crews utilized cranes to clear the wreckage. Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
The Al-Ayyat area is the site of Egypt’s worst-ever rail disaster, which occurred in 2002 when a fire killed more than 370 people on a train carrying holiday travelers south of Cairo. The area also saw multiple train crashes in 2009 that killed dozens.
While Egypt’s 110 million people rely heavily on one of Africa's largest rail networks, the system has suffered repeated deadly accidents. Over the last decade, the government has spent billions of dollars on new highways and high-speed rail lines, but has not yet overhauled much of the aging rail network.
