The Egyptian Ministry of Health announced the death of at least 32 people and the injury of 165 others in a train collision accident Friday in the Tahta center in the northern Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The Egyptian President directed all concerned agencies to go to the site of the accident and provide him with relevant reports, threatening everyone who caused the painful accident between the two trains in Sohag that he would receive the deterrent penalty.

Al-Sisi offered condolences to the families of the victims, and directed the competent authorities to provide adequate compensation to these families, adding that he was pained by this incident, which will only increase the state's determination to end this type of disaster.

For his part, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said during a press conference he held in Sohag, where the accident occurred, that the state had spent billions to develop railways in the country, which he described as dilapidated and outdated.

He indicated that the development will take time because it will be implemented without stopping the railway services, on which tens of thousands of Egyptians depend.

The number of victims of the two train collision has risen to 32 dead and 165 injured (Al-Jazeera)

The high number of victims

The Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, said at the press conference that the number of victims of a passenger train collision had risen to 32 dead and 165 injured.

The minister added that all the injured were transferred to several government hospitals in the governorate, and that their cases range from bruises to fractures, in addition to some cases that need careful surgical intervention.

The Ministry of Health stated that a state of maximum preparedness had been announced in the hospitals of Sohag, Assiut, Luxor and Qena governorates to receive the injured.

The Railways Authority conducts further investigations into the accident (Al-Jazeera)

Causes of the accident

Commenting on the accident, the Egyptian Railways Authority said that the collision of the two trains was a result of unidentified persons using emergency brakes near the city of Sohag.

She added that this use led to one of the two trains being stopped and the other colliding with it from the back, which resulted in the overturning of two cars of the stopped train, and the overturn of the towing vehicle and the power car of the other train, indicating that further investigations were being conducted regarding the accident.

Following the railway authority’s statement, Attorney General Hamada Al-Sawy demanded all parties to stop issuing statements or statements regarding the causes of the accident until the end of the investigations, which the Public Prosecution handles.

The Administrative Prosecution Authority said in a statement that the head of the authority, Essam Al-Minshawi, ordered "to investigate the incident and assign the specialized technical committees to examine and submit their reports to the prosecution promptly to reveal the existence of negligence or disciplinary violations that would have caused the accident."

Sources told Al-Jazeera that the Minister of Transport, Lieutenant General Kamel the Minister, ordered the seizure of the drivers of the two trains.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, mourned the victims of the train accident and expressed his hope for the recovery of the injured, while the Ministry of Endowments decided to dispense "urgent assistance" to the families of the victims.

Egypt witnesses horrific accidents from time to time due to decades-old worn out railways, tractors and train cars.