Cairo, Egypt (DT/ AP) — At least three people have died and 47 others were injured in a train collision in Sharqia Governorate in the Nile Delta on Saturday, according to Extra News.
The crash happened in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province, the country’s railway authority said in a statement. Egypt’s Health Ministry said the collision injured at least 40 others.
The fatalities include two children and a woman, as reported by the channel’s correspondent.
The Ministry of Health stated that 39 ambulances promptly arrived at the collision site in Zagazig city, transporting the injured to Al-Ahrar Zagazig Teaching Hospital and Zagazig University Hospital.
Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. In recent years, the government announced initiatives to improve its railways.
In 2018, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, would be needed to properly overhaul the North African country’s neglected rail network.
Video from the site of the crash showed a train car crumpled by the impact, surrounded by crowds. Men tried to lift the injured through the windows of a passenger car.
Last month, a train crashed into a truck crossing the train tracks in the Mediterranean province of Alexandria, killing two people.
