70 injured in train accident in Egypt

Cairo, February 11

At least 70 persons were injured on Thursday when a speeding train overturned in the Upper Egyptian city of Beni Suef, health ministry officials said.

The train, which was coming from Aswan to Cairo, was derailed and two of its compartments overturned near el-Shennaweya village in Beni Suef, security officials said.

More than 40 ambulances were rushed to the place of accident. The injured were taken to the hospital, they added.

Deputy health minister Gamal El-Gohary said 70 persons were wounded in the crash and sent to three local hospitals in the region. He said the relatively slow speed the train was travelling at reduced the magnitude of the crash.

No deaths have been reported until now, they said.

Mohamed Mohsen, the train’s assistant driver, said the train’s brakes failed as it approached a connection rail at 80 kph speed.

An official at the provincial governor office was quoted as saying by Al Ahram that most of those wounded suffered light injuries including bruises and scratches and are set to be discharged from hospitals later in the day.

Egypt’s roads and railways are notorious for poor infrastructure and maintenance.

The country’s official statistics agency said in December that over 2,800 people were killed in road and train crashes in Egypt in the first half of 2015. — PTI