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At least 32 people have been killed after two trains collided close to the Nile-side town of Tahta, around 230 miles south of Cairo.

The country's railway authority said emergency brakes in the first train were triggered by "unknown individuals", causing the train to stop.

The second train then crashed into the first from behind, causing two carriages to come off the tracks.





Dozens of ambulances were sent to the scene and local media photos showed flipped carriages with passengers trapped inside.

Egypt's health ministry said 91 people were injured in the collision in the province of Sohag.

The public prosecutor's office said it had ordered an investigation into the collision.

Egypt's railways have a history of bad maintenance and poor management and three years ago, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi said the equivalent of around £10.2bn was needed to overhaul the rundown network.

There were 1,793 accidents in the country during 2017, according to the latest official figures available.

The deadliest was in 2002, when more than 300 people died after a fire in a train travelling south from Cairo.

In 2018, the chief of the country's railways was fired after a train derailed near the southern city of Aswan, injuring six people.

The same year, a passenger train and a freight train collided, killing at least 12 people.

In 2017, two passenger trains collided just outside the port city of Alexandria, killing 43 people.

And a year earlier, two commuter trains collided near Cairo, killing at least 51 people.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/at-least-32- ... t-12257297

Video: Ahmed Amer

Sad day for families of the victims, but the railways in Egypt need a lot of investment, that infrastructure investment may be better than building anymore hotels.

Meanwhile.........

Egypt's First High-speed Train Line Will Connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean

Better that they spend some money updating the safety systems on the present railways. If, as seems likely, someone pulled the emergency brakes, surely it’s not beyond them to have arrangements warning following trains on the single track?

Instead, some unlucky passenger is likely to be accused of improperly activating the emergency brakes....and be hung out to dry.

It wouldn’t surprise me if someone decided to take a short cut to his village rather than backtrack from the next station.

newcastle wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:54 pm It wouldn’t surprise me if someone decided to take a short cut to his village rather than backtrack from the next station.

I can really believe that

I remember been on a microbus when it stopped, 2 Egyptians got off and went into a Koshary ordered their meals then got back on the bus 10 minutes later with their takeaway, nobody said a word, just a normal day in Egypt

If you don't have patience and a sense of humour, Egypt is not for you

Egypt allocates EGP 225bn for development of railway transportation system. All outdated trains will be replaced by 2021 end: Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir


Something about horses bolting and stable doors comes to mind