Collision between trains in Egypt, 7 dead and over 100 injured

A passenger train is stopped on the tracks, another hits it at full speed. Four carriages derail, iron giants lying in disarray on the sides of the roadbed. The driver of the investing train dies while waiting for ambulances, 6 other people, who arrived in hospital in very serious conditions, will lose their lives shortly afterwards while others are still in danger of dying. Tragedy images in Egypt, in the governorate of Giza, about sixty kilometers from Cairo and the pyramids, near the town of Al Ayyat, on a quiet and sunny autumn afternoon.

The line on which the violent collision occurred is the one that leads to Fayoum, a location known for the archaeological finds currently on display at the Ara Pacis, and then to Aswan, along the Nile of temples and cruises. It was therefore feared that some tourists might have been involved, a circumstance ruled out by the local authorities.

The circumstances of the accident, whose provisional toll provided by the Ministry of Health is 7 dead and 112 injured, will be the subject of a double investigation: a technical one, entrusted to a commission, and a judicial one, to ascertain responsibilities. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has already promised to "shed light on any negligence". And he gave indications to increase the compensation provided for these accidents to the injured and the families of the victims.

However, controversy is already raging over a railway system that dates back to 1854 and is the oldest in Africa and the Middle East, with maintenance that is struggling while high speed is already being considered. Unfortunately, train accidents in Egypt are not uncommon. The latest dates back to September 10, when a collision involved two freight trains not far from the site of today's accident, in Al Balyada, also in the Giza governorate.

The accident caused the injury of a train driver and his assistant, as well as the derailment of a locomotive and two carriages, and significant disruptions on the line between Cairo and Aswan, the backbone of the country that connects the capital to Upper Egypt, the southern region. Even then there was an apology, an investigation and a technical commission. On the same route, in 2002, there was the worst train accident ever in Egypt, with 370 deaths. Another in the Nile Delta in 2024 left 3 dead and 50 injured. A clash in the south in 2021 left 32 dead and over one hundred injured. Important figures, despite the statistics recording a 22.7% decrease in railway accidents in the country compared to 2024.