At least 11 killed as train carriages derailed in Egypt

At least 11 people died yesterday when five or more carriages from a passenger train travelling north of the Egyptian capital Cairo overturned after derailing.

Officials said the train was travelling from Cairo to the coastal city of Mansoura on the Mediterranean when the accident happened at about 2pm local time in Qalyubia province.

The Health Ministry said 11 people died and 98 were injured in the accident.

A spokesman said that 58 ambulances took the injured to hospitals.

Egyptian media reported that Transport Minister Kamel Al Wazir was travelling to the crash site.

Reports also said that an investigation team from the public prosecutor’s office would inspect the site, and that a committee was formed to determine the cause of the derailing. It was the second derailing incident in less than a week in Egypt, where the railway service, which is undergoing a multibillion-dollar upgrade, has been unreliable and prone to accidents for several decades.

Last Wednesday, two carriages from a train travelling north of Cairo derailed, injuring 15 passengers and a rail worker.

Prosecutors said on Saturday that it was caused by exceeding the speed limit in an area where repair work was in progress.

They also blamed the train driver for ignoring standard procedures when travelling through the work area.

Another deadly train crash in Egypt took place on March 26, in the south of the country.

It killed at least 20 people and injured about 200.

In 2019, an engine car laden with fuel hit a wall at Cairo’s main train station, starting a fire that killed 22 people and injured dozens more.

Mr Al Wazir, who has been transport minister for two years, previously said accidents would continue to take place until the overhaul of the railway was completed.

He also gave warnings of frequent delays to ensure safety while the work is under way.

The government has spent 40 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.55bn) on upgrading the railway network in the past six years.

It has announced that it plans to spend 141bn pounds more in the next few years to overhaul the service.