Another train derails in Egypt, injures 15

There has been yet another train crash in Egypt after a train travelling from Cairo derailed in Sharqia Governorate last night.

Egypt’s health ministry announced that 15 people were injured and that no one was killed.

News circulated that two trains collided, possibly after one of them was stationary following a breakdown, however the head of the railway authority said that the accident occurred after one of the wheels fell off a train.

رعب الركاب لحظة خروج قطار عن القضبان في #مصر.https://t.co/Xo65iD9C3t pic.twitter.com/Q1d4oprsYt

— صحيفة سبق الإلكترونية (@sabqorg) April 15, 2021

The Egyptian government and railway authority are currently under pressure to give answers as to why there are so many road and traffic accidents in Egypt.

On 26 March two trains collided in Sohag Governorate south of Egypt, killing 20 people and injuring hundreds more.

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Egyptians called on the transport minister to resign however instead authorities blamed junior employees after an investigation found that they were allegedly high on cannabis and tramadol at the time of the accident.

Defence Minister turned President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has stated publicly that he would rather invest the money needed for urgent track reforms in the bank so that he can make a profit rather than spend it on the dilapidated tracks.

Earlier this week a bus overtaking a truck in Assiut, Upper Egypt, collided, overturned and burst into flames. The accident killed 20 people and injured three.

More than 10,000 people died from train accidents between 2013 and 2019 whilst roughly 12,000 Egyptians die in traffic accidents every year.

Egypt’s railways are dilapidated and in desperate need of restoration whilst speeding, bad roads and poorly enforced traffic laws lead to deaths on the roads.