At least
26 people were killed in Egypt when a train ploughed into a truck and a
mini-bus at a railway crossing early Monday, the health ministry said.
Another
28 people were injured in the accident, which happened south of Cairo.
Local
police chief Kamal al-Dali told state television the mini-bus had been carrying
guests home from a wedding.
The head
of the Egyptian Railway Authority said the drivers of the vehicles had ignored
warning lights and chains blocking entry to the crossing, and tried to go
across the tracks.
“The bus
stormed the crossing, according to initial reports,” Hussein Zakaria told state
television.
“The
crossing was closed with chains, (and) there were warning lights,” he said.
The
train, whose driver survived the crash, continued for almost one kilometre (0.6
miles) before coming to a halt, he said.
Egypt’s
rail network has a poor safety record stemming largely from lack of maintenance
and poor management.
In
January, 17 people died when a train transporting conscripts derailed, and in
November 2012, 47 school children were killed when a train crashed into their
bus.
Both the
transport minister and the railway authority head were forced to resign as a
result of that accident, which was blamed on a train signal operator who fell
asleep on the job.
The
government formed a panel to investigate, but as with similar tragedies in the
past, it did little to shed light on the details and less still to bring about
accountability.
In
Egypt’s deadliest railway tragedy, the bodies of more than 360 passengers were
recovered from a train after a fire in 2002.
Egyptians
have long complained that the government has failed to deal with chronic
transport problems, with roads as poorly maintained as railway lines.
Monday’s
accident took place days after train services resumed completely across the
country, after they were halted due to unrest following the overthrow of
president Mohamed Morsi in July.
Vanguard.
No comments:
Post a Comment