Train collision in Egypt kills 44, injures 180
A collision between two trains near Alexandria, Egypt, has killed at least 44 people and injured around 180. A train traveling from Cairo to Alexandria crashed into the back of a train from the city of Port Said while the latter was waiting at a small station in Khorshid district. Officials said the death toll may increase. Rescue operations are ongoing.
Rescue operations continue overnight, investigation into crash ordered
Security force have cordoned off the area of the collision while rescue teams worked overnight to remove search for survivors and clear the debris. Around 75 ambulances have been deployed at the scene. The Cairo-Alexandria train's driver has reportedly surrendered himself to police for investigation. An urgent investigation to identify the collision's cause has been ordered by Egypt's prosecutor-general Nabil Sadiq.
Witness: Most injured were women and children
26-year-old Iman Hamdy, a survivor of the collision, said she escaped the train wreckage through a window. She reported saw several people injured, most of whom were women and children.
Train accidents in Egypt are common
In 2016, five people were killed and 27 injured when a train derailed just south of Cairo. In 2013, another train derailment killed 19 people in Badr Rashin in Giza. In 2012, 51 people, mostly children, were killed when a train rammed into a school bus at a rail crossing in Manaflut. In 2002, a fire in an overcrowded passenger train killed 360 people.
