Egypt’s rail network is in mourning once again. On Sunday, November 8, two passenger trains collided in the Al-Ayyat district of Giza governorate, about fifty kilometres south of Cairo. The official toll stands at no fewer than seven dead. The number of injured varies by source, between 112 and 125 according to figures released by the Health Ministry.
According to Egyptian National Railways, train No. 134, a Tahya Misr service from Giza to Fayoum, struck the rear carriage of train No. 2010, which was travelling from Cairo to Aswan and was stationary on the same track. The crash happened between Kafr Ammar and El Raqqa stations. The force of the impact derailed several carriages, some of which overturned. Prosecutors said one of the drivers of train No. 134 was among those killed.
Emergency services were quickly mobilised. More than 50 ambulances were sent to the scene, while hospitals in the area were placed on heightened alert. Al-Ayyat Central Hospital received 34 injured, and Atfih Central Hospital took in eleven, along with four of the dead. Overnight, cranes were brought in to clear the wreckage and restore traffic on the Cairo–Upper Egypt line, one of the busiest routes in the country.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was following the situation with great concern. He ordered a swift investigation and demanded that anyone found to have been negligent be held accountable. A team led by the first attorney general of the South Giza prosecution travelled to the site, while other prosecutors questioned injured passengers at hospitals in Atfih, Al-Ayyat and Al-Wasta. The prosecution also tasked a specialised technical committee with examining the track, the damaged carriages and all the wreckage. For his part, Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir ordered a technical panel to determine the causes of the crash.
Several questions remain unanswered. The authorities have not yet explained why the Aswan-bound train was stopped between the two stations, nor how the second train came to be running on the same track without stopping in time. No official cause has been given so far.
For Egyptians, the name Al-Ayyat carries painful memories. In February 2002, a fire broke out on an overcrowded train in the same area, killing more than 360 people, which remains the deadliest rail disaster in the country’s history. In 2009, a collision between two trains there cost dozens more lives. More recently, in September, two freight trains collided at Al-Balyada station in the same district, injuring a driver and his assistant.
This latest accident reopens the debate over the safety of an ageing rail network, despite major modernisation programmes launched by the authorities in recent years. The findings of the various investigations will be closely watched by a population that relies on trains in their millions every day.