At least 32 people were killed when two trains collided in Egypt on Friday, the health ministry said — with dramatic footage of the aftermath showing people screaming and covered in soot in an overturned car.
The deadly crash occurred north of the city of Sohag, and left at least 66 people injured.
Photos from local media showed train cars derailed above a channel of water.
“The trains collided while going at not very high speeds, which led to the destruction of two carriages and a third to overturn,” a security source told Reuters.
Videos from the scene circulated on Twitter, showing an overturned train car ripped open — with screaming passengers still in their seats.
Some passengers — who appeared bloodied and covered in ash — could be seen trying to help others.
Bystanders carried bodies from the wreckage and laid them on the ground near the site.
The collision was triggered when “unknown individuals” activated the emergency brakes on one of the trains, Egypt’s railway authority said.
That caused it to stop and the other to slam into it from behind, it said.
People gather around the wreckage of two trains that collided in the Tahta district of Sohag province, south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, reportedly killing at least 32 people and injuring scores of others. AFP via Getty ImagesThe health ministry said 36 ambulances were dispatched to the scene and casualties were taken to local hospitals.
Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents causing casualties are common.
In 2017, 1,793 train accidents were recorded across the country.
The following year, a passenger train derailed near the city of Aswan, injuring at least six people and prompting authorities to fire the chief of the country’s railways.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said that same year that the government lacks about 250 billion Egyptian pounds — the equivalent of $14.1 billion — to overhaul the outdated rail system.
His comments came a day after a passenger train collided with a cargo train — killing at least 12 people, including a child.
Egypt’s deadliest train crash was in 2002, when more than 300 people were killed when a fire erupted inside a speeding train traveling from Cairo to southern Egypt.
With Post wires
