50 killed as train plows into school bus in Egypt
Source: Agencies |
November 18, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
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FIFTY people, mostly children, were killed when a train slammed into a school bus as it crossed tracks in a city south of Cairo yesterday, state media and officials said.
All but two of the dead were children, aged around four to eight, said a senior security official in Assiut, near the site. One woman and the bus driver also died, he added.
The bus was broken in half by the force of the crash. Blood was spattered on the front of the engine and school bags and text books, some bloodstained, were strewn around.
Witnesses said barriers at the rail crossing were open when the train hit the bus.
Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority resigned, and President Mohamed Mursi said those responsible would be held to account.
Egypt's roads and railways have a poor safety record and Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to enforce even basic safeguards.
State media reported that as well as 50 dead, 15 or more people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children.
"They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it," said Mohamed Samir, a doctor at Assiut Hospital where the injured were taken, citing witness accounts.
Assiut Governor Yahya Keshk said the crossing was open. "The crossing worker was asleep. He has been detained," he told state television.
The doctor said the bodies of many of the dead were mutilated, illustrating the force of the crash, which took place in Manfalut, near Assiut, 300 kilometers south of Cairo.
"I saw the train collide with the bus and push it about 1 kilometer along the track," said Ahmed Youssef, a driver.
Officials said the level of mutilation made it difficult to count and identify the bodies.
President Mursi ordered his ministers to offer support to the families of those killed, the official news agency said. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil ordered investigations.
Victims' families protested at the crash site, the state news agency reported.
Egypt's worst train disaster was in 2002 when a fire ripped through seven carriages of an overcrowded passenger train, killing at least 360 people.
All but two of the dead were children, aged around four to eight, said a senior security official in Assiut, near the site. One woman and the bus driver also died, he added.
The bus was broken in half by the force of the crash. Blood was spattered on the front of the engine and school bags and text books, some bloodstained, were strewn around.
Witnesses said barriers at the rail crossing were open when the train hit the bus.
Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority resigned, and President Mohamed Mursi said those responsible would be held to account.
Egypt's roads and railways have a poor safety record and Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to enforce even basic safeguards.
State media reported that as well as 50 dead, 15 or more people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children.
"They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it," said Mohamed Samir, a doctor at Assiut Hospital where the injured were taken, citing witness accounts.
Assiut Governor Yahya Keshk said the crossing was open. "The crossing worker was asleep. He has been detained," he told state television.
The doctor said the bodies of many of the dead were mutilated, illustrating the force of the crash, which took place in Manfalut, near Assiut, 300 kilometers south of Cairo.
"I saw the train collide with the bus and push it about 1 kilometer along the track," said Ahmed Youssef, a driver.
Officials said the level of mutilation made it difficult to count and identify the bodies.
President Mursi ordered his ministers to offer support to the families of those killed, the official news agency said. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil ordered investigations.
Victims' families protested at the crash site, the state news agency reported.
Egypt's worst train disaster was in 2002 when a fire ripped through seven carriages of an overcrowded passenger train, killing at least 360 people.
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