Egyptian Lawmakers Summon Transport Minister After Deadly Train Collision

Egypt’s Parliament moved on Monday, 10 November, to press the transport minister for answers after a collision between two passenger trains south of the capital killed seven people and injured more than 100.

The House of Representatives’ Transport and Communications Committee will summon Minister Kamel El-Wazir to an emergency session on Tuesday, 11 November. The committee’s chairman, Wahid Qorqar, approved his request for the meeting.

The crash occurred Sunday, 8 November, in Ayyat, a district in Giza Province about 32 miles south of Cairo, when a train bound for Fayoum struck the rear of a train heading to Aswan. Investigators found the Aswan-bound train was stopped on the same track, and several carriages derailed. Egyptian National Railways identified the trains as Nos. 134 and 2010.

The toll climbed through the weekend. Early counts put the dead at four and the injured at 88, Agence France-Presse reported. The Health Ministry later reported seven dead and 125 injured. The driver of the Fayoum-bound train was among the dead.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi ordered an urgent inquiry and said anyone found negligent must answer for it. The Public Prosecution is examining the technical causes, and the Administrative Prosecution is also reviewing the episode.

Ayyat carries a grim history. It was the site of Egypt’s worst rail disaster in 2002, when a fire killed more than 360 people. In September, two freight trains collided in the same district, injuring a driver and his assistant.

The Transport Ministry sent buses to carry passengers between nearby stations until service resumes.