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25 killed, 55 hurt in Egypt train crash horror

Cairo, October 25, 2009

At least 25 people were killed and 55 hurt in a collision between two passenger trains yesterday in Giza, southwest of the Egyptian capital.

'The total has risen to 25 dead and 55 injured and may become worse,' a police official at the scene said.

A security services official said: 'The trains were travelling on the same track. One ran into the other as they headed towards Upper Egypt.' Witnesses initially gave a death toll of 15 and estimated the number of injured people and 24.

The crash took place in Al Ayyat area of Giza, 40km from Cairo, when one train stopped unexpectedly and another one also heading south from the capital ploughed into it from behind, the security official said.

The first train, heading to Sayum, 100km south of Cairo made an unscheduled halt but the second, on a southbound journey from Cairo towards Assiyut, 400km from the capital travelled onwards at normal speed until it struck the back of the stationary train, the official said.

Al Ayyat was the scene of Egypt's deadliest ever train crash when the bodies of at least 361 passengers were recovered from a train following a fire in February 2002. Egypt's national railway system is much the biggest in the Middle East, with nearly 5,000 km of track and employs 86,000 people.-Reuters




Tags: Egypt | Train | collision | accident |

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