Cairo: At least 15 people were killed and 40 others injured today when a
passenger train collided with a freight train in Egypt, officials said,
the latest deadly rail accident in the North African country.
The passenger train collided with the goods train near Kom Hamada station in northern Behira governorate.
At least 15 people were killed and 40 others injured in the accident, according to the Ministry of Transportation.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.
The
cause of the accident was not immediately known. The passenger train
was en route to Alexandria while the cargo train was heading to Cairo,
local media reported.
Egypt's railway system has a poor safety record, mostly blamed on decades of badly maintained equipment and poor management.
Deadly
accidents have claimed hundreds of lives over the years. According to
latest figures by the state's statistics agency, 1,249 train accidents
took place last year, the highest since 2009 when the number reached
1,577.
In August, 43 people died in a train collision near the
coastal city of Alexandria. In 2016, at least 51 people were killed
when two commuter trains collided near Cairo.
PTI
