At least four people were killed and 88 others were injured in a collision between two trains in Giza Governorate, south of Cairo, today, Sunday (November 8, 2026), on the Cairo-Aswan line, while the authorities announced the opening of an investigation to find out the causes of the accident, in conjunction with intensive efforts to remove its effects and return train movement to normal.
The Egyptian National Railway Authority said that the accident occurred when train No. 134, “Long Live Egypt,” heading from Giza to Fayoum, collided with the rear of train No. 2010, heading from Cairo to Aswan, in the area between the Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in the Al-Ayat area, south of Giza Governorate.
The authority explained that the collision led to a number of passenger train cars derailing from the tracks, while circulated images from the accident site showed some of the cars turning on their sides, and others falling off the railway track and into nearby agricultural lands.
Initial estimates indicated that 64 people were infected, but the Egyptian Ministry of Health later announced that the number of infected people had risen to 88 people, in addition to recording at least four deaths.
The Ministry confirmed the continued follow-up of the conditions of the injured and providing them with the necessary medical care in the hospitals that received them.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi followed the repercussions of the accident, expressing his condolences to the families of the victims and his wishes for recovery for the injured.
Al-Sisi said in a post on his Facebook page that he is following “with great interest” the two train accidents, directing state agencies to provide the necessary medical care for the injured, quickly investigate the circumstances of the accident, and hold accountable anyone proven to be negligent.
The authorities also announced the opening of an investigation to determine the causes of the collision that occurred in the Al-Ayat area, which is known to be linked to a number of tragic train accidents in the history of Egypt.
For its part, the Ministry of Health and Population announced raising the level of preparedness in all health facilities in Giza and Beni Suef governorates, based on the directives of the Minister of Health, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.
The Ministry explained that 72 ambulances participated in the evacuation and transfer of the injured, noting that the cases were distributed among several hospitals, where Al-Wasta Hospital received 49 injured people, Al-Ayyat Hospital 29 injured people, and Atfih Hospital 10 injured people.
The Ministry added that the four bodies were distributed between Al-Wasta Hospital, Atfih Hospital, and the accident site.
In parallel with medical efforts, the Railway Authority sent cranes, technical equipment and emergency teams to the accident site to lift the damaged carriages and remove the debris.
The authority confirmed that it is working to restore train movement as soon as possible on the Cairo-High Dam line, which represents one of the most important transportation arteries in Egypt and connects the capital to the cities of Upper Egypt, most notably Aswan.
The accident brings to the forefront the issue of railway safety in Egypt, especially since the Al-Ayat area witnessed some of the worst disasters in the history of this sector.
In 2002, the famous “Upper Train” fire occurred during a trip between Cairo and Luxor, killing 361 people in one of the bloodiest accidents in the history of Egyptian railways, and led at the time to the resignation of Transport Minister Ibrahim Al-Damiri.
During 2009, the same area witnessed several other train accidents that claimed the lives of dozens of people.
The Egyptian railway network, used by about one million passengers daily, is one of the oldest train networks in the Middle East. Although the government has invested billions of dollars in recent years in developing the infrastructure of the transportation sector and establishing modern highways and railway lines, large parts of the traditional network still need modernization.
Investigations often attribute the causes of train accidents in Egypt to human errors or malfunctions associated with signaling and control systems, at a time when the government continues to implement plans to develop trains and modernize the infrastructure of the railway network.
