Egyptian authorities have ordered an investigation into a collision between two freight trains that injured a train driver and his assistant and caused one locomotive and two train cars to derail.
The freight trains collided at midnight Thursday in Al-Ayyat town in Egypt’s Giza province, the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) said.
ENR added it immediately deployed emergency teams and cranes to the site to clear the wreckage and restore regular services on the Cairo-Aswan line.
Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir said an urgent specialised technical committee had been formed to determine the causes and circumstances of the collision and establish responsibility.
Maintaining service
The ENR said one track in the Al-Bilaydah station area, where the accident occurred, remains operational, allowing trains to run in both directions. It said necessary measures were being taken to maintain service continuity.
The railway authority apologised to passengers for delays caused by the collision, saying its teams were continuing efforts to clear the effects of the accident and restore normal services on both tracks as soon as possible.
Train accidents are frequent on Egypt’s railway network. On August 30, three people were killed and 103 others injured when a train derailed while travelling to Cairo.
One of Egypt’s deadliest rail disasters occurred in 2002, when more than 370 people were killed after a fire broke out on a train travelling south of Cairo.
