Egypt: fatal collision between two trains, Sissi promises a sanction
People inspect the damage after two trains collided near the city of Sohag, Egypt on March 26, 2021. REUTERS - STRINGER
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A train crash left at least 32 dead and 91 injured on Friday shortly before noon in Egypt.
Two De Luxe collided near the town of Sohag, 500 km south of Cairo.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has promised a dissuasive sanction to anyone who caused this accident "through negligence or corruption".
The head of government and 5 ministers, including those of Health and Transport, were dispatched to the scene.
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With our correspondent in Cairo,
Alexandre Buccianti
According to the preliminary investigation, the alarm signal was pulled by strangers in several cars of the Luxor-Alexandria train which stopped.
The Aswan-Cairo train arrived a few minutes later and telescoped the stationary train, overturning and crushing the last two cars.
The locomotive and a car of the train coming from behind also overturned.
The railways were the pride of Egypt, a pioneer in Africa and the Middle East.
But, for lack of investment and maintenance, they have become a nightmare for the authorities since the 1980s.
In 2002, 370 people died in a fire on a poor man's train going to Upper Egypt.
In 2019 a crazy train crashed in the middle of Cairo station killing around 20 people.
President Sisi then dismissed the Minister of Transport and replaced him with an army engineer general and massively increased the budget for the railways.
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