SEVEN people, including a train conductor, were killed and at least 125 injured after two passenger trains collided south of Cairo on Sunday, Egyptian authorities said.
AP reported the Health Ministry in Egypt saying more than 70 of the injured had been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment.
The collision occurred in the al-Ayyat district of Giza province, about 52 kilometres south of Cairo, when a train travelling towards Fayoum province struck the rear carriage of a Cairo-Aswan train, according to the Transportation Ministry.
The Chief Prosecutor's office said investigators had arrived at the scene, where an initial inspection indicated that the Giza-Fayoum train had collided with the last carriage of the Cairo-Aswan train, which was stationary on the same track and travelling in the same direction.
Local residents rushed to assist survivors, pull passengers from the wreckage and alert emergency services.
Ayman Gamal, a resident of Kafr Girza in al-Ayyat, said he saw about 80 injured passengers being transported to nearby hospitals by ambulance.
He said some passengers were trapped inside a carriage of the stationary train and were already dead when rescuers pulled them out.
Survivors taken to al-Wasta Central Hospital in neighbouring Beni Suef province described scenes of panic, with passengers struggling to breathe amid dust raised by the collision. Villagers nearby eventually helped pull them from the wreckage.
Farha Gamal, a survivor travelling on the Fayoum-bound train, said she saw several passengers who appeared to be dead, while others struggled to find their way out of the carriage.
“There were other cars that were completely mangled,” she said.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi ordered an immediate investigation into the accident, according to a social media post.
Emergency crews and cranes were deployed to clear the wreckage and restore normal rail services as soon as possible, the Egyptian Railway Authority said.
Train accidents remain a recurring problem in Egypt, where the railway network has long faced criticism over mismanagement and inadequate maintenance, despite government efforts to modernise the system.
Last September, a train driver and his assistant were injured when two freight trains collided in the same district.
Egypt's deadliest rail disaster occurred in 2002, when more than 300 people were killed after a fire engulfed an overnight train travelling from Cairo to southern Egypt. - November 9, 2026
