At least 40 killed in Egypt train collision
ALEXANDRIA, August 12, 2017
At least 40 people were killed and nearly 135 others were injured when two trains collided in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria on Friday, reports said.
The trains slammed into each other outside the Khorshid station in the Mediterranean port city. Bodies were strewn on the ground as rescue teams worked to pull the dead and injured from the wrecked carriages, said a Reuters report.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has ordered an inquiry into the crash. Transport Minister Hisham Arafat said "human error" led to the collision but did not elaborate, the report quoted.
Chief Prosecutor Nabil Ahmed said a seven-member committee had been formed to report on the collision.
The trains, one travelling from the capital Cairo and the other from Port Said, crashed at about 14:15 local time (12:15 GMT). It derailed the engine of one train and two cars of the other, the Egyptian Railway Authority said.
A railroad switching error was the most likely cause, a security source said without giving further details.
"They rose in the air forming a pyramid when they collided. I started to scream from the rooftops for people to grab some sheets and run," BBC quoted a witness as saying.
