13 injured as trains collide in Cairo

EGYPT — Thirteen people were injured when two passenger trains collided Thursday in the Egyptian capital, the health ministry said, triggering a suspension in nationwide rail services.

It said the casualties of the crash involving passengers from Upper Egypt were ferried to Cairo hospitals, as rail authorities announced the suspension of services.

The signals tower was not functioning because of bad weather conditions, the rail services said, leading to one train crashing into the other which was stationary.

The government had declared Thursday a holiday because of heavy rains and strong winds.

Egypt’s rundown railways have a history of disasters.

In February 2019, a hurtling locomotive crashed, derailed and caught fire at Cairo’s main train station, killing more than 20 people.

Officials often blame the rail network’s poor maintenance on decades of negligence and a lack of funds.

The deadliest accident on Egypt’s railways was in 2002 when 373 people died in a fire that ripped through a crowded train south of the capital.

Edited by JPV