Ninety-seven people were injured on Sunday (18) after the derailment of four cars in the province of Caliubia, north of Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Health reported. Local media and two security sources say several people died in the crash, but there is no official confirmation that this happened. Authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
The train traveled from Cairo to Mansoura in the Nile Delta and left the tracks at 1:54 p.m. (local time, 8:54 a.m. in Brasilia), about 40 kilometers from the Egyptian capital, according to a statement from the national company. who controls the parents’ transportation system. The cause of the crash, according to the company, is under investigation.
More than 50 ambulances transported the injured to three hospitals, according to the Minister of Health.
The derailment is the latest in a series of recent train accidents in Egypt. At least 20 people were killed and nearly 200 injured in March, when two trains collided near Tahta, about 440 kilometers south of Cairo. In early April, 15 people were also injured when two cars left the tracks in an area near the town of Minya al-Qamh.
Egyptian Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir has received requests to resign on social media, which he excludes from doing so. The former general pledged to continue working on the development of the country’s aging rail network.