At least 19 killed, 185 hurt in Egypt train collision

TAHTA (Egypt) • A collision between two trains has killed at least 19 people and injured 185 in southern Egypt, a country plagued by fatal rail accidents widely blamed on crumbling infrastructure and poor maintenance.

Medical reinforcements were routed from Cairo and more than a hundred ambulances were mobilised to transport the injured to hospital from the scene on Friday in the Tahta district of Sohag province, 460km south of the capital.

"At this moment there are 185 injured and 19 corpses and three bags of body parts," said Health Minister Hala Zayed. Most of those injured suffered fractures.

Technicians worked through Friday evening to remove five dislocated and damaged train wagons.

"We were at the mosque, then a child came and told us (about the incident). We heard the collision, so we rushed and found the carnage," said one witness, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The first ambulances arrived around half an hour after the explosion... there were children who removed (debris) using wooden ladders," said the source, who spent the day helping the rescuers.

Surveillance camera footage of the accident showed a carriage being violently thrown into the air in a cloud of dust when a speeding train rammed into another as it rolled slowly down the tracks. Twisted metal jutted from the wreckage as people gathered around the overturned carriages.

"Our train suddenly stopped and a quarter of an hour later, the second arrived and struck us. I saw it coming, screamed, then found myself on the ground in great pain," said Mr Kamel Nagi, a 20-year-old conscript who suffered multiple broken bones.

As the authorities launched an investigation, Egypt's rail authority blamed the crash on passengers who "activated emergency brakes in several carriages" on one of the trains.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE