Egyptian town rallies after train crash as El Sisi vows reforms

At least 19 people were killed when two trains collided on Friday in southern Egypt

People gather around the wreckage of two trains that collided in the Tahta district of Sohag province, some 460 kilometres (285 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, reportedly killing at least 32 people and injuring scores of others. AFP

People gather around the wreckage of two trains that collided in the Tahta district of Sohag province, some 460 kms (285 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo. AFP

This image provided by Youm7 shows crowds of people inside a mangled train carriage at the scene of a train accident in southern Egypt. AP Photo

This image provided by Youm7 shows crowds of people gathered around mangled train carriages at the scene of a train accident in southern Egypt. AP Photo

People gather around the wreckage of two trains that collided in the Tahta district of Sohag province, some 460 kilometres (285 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo. AFP

People stand atop a turned over train carriage as others inspect the scene of a train crash in Sohag province. EPA

People stand atop a turned over train carriage as others inspect the scene of a train crash in Sohag province. EPA

A blanket covers a victim surrounded by people inspecting the scene of a train crash in Sohag province. EPA

People inspect the scene of a train crash in Sohag province. EPA

People inspect the scene of a train crash in Sohag province. EPA

People inspect the scene of a train crash in Sohag province. EPA

Prosecutors on Saturday questioned the drivers of two trains that collided in southern Egypt a day earlier, killing at least 19 people, as survivors recounted the horror of the crash.

The questioning came as President Abdel Fatah El Sisi chaired an emergency meeting with senior government ministers to prevent a repeat of the latest deadly accident in the country’s antiquated railway system.

Surveillance camera footage of the accident, in the southern province of Sohag, showed a speeding train barreling into another as it rolled down the tracks, sending a carriage hurtling into the air in a cloud of dust.

"I heard a thunderous sound and I was thrown into the air. When I hit the ground, I couldn't get up, I just looked around me in a daze," Salah Mohammed, a 22-year-old army conscript who was asleep on one of the trains, told The National.

He sustained sprains to his sternum and injured one leg when he landed a few metres away from where he was laying.

“I was lying on the ground when women came and stood over me and wailed thinking I was dead. I was too disoriented to reassure them that I was alive,” he said.

He was expected to be discharged from hospital in two days and walk unaided in two weeks.

Survivor Adel Fawzy, 21, was lucky to be seated in a car away from the rear cars that were overturned by the collision. He suffered minor injuries to his head and knee.

"When I saw what happened to the carriages closest to the crash, I thanked God over and over again," he told The National.

Health Minister Hala Zayed, meanwhile, said on Saturday that an initial toll of 32 killed released by the ministry was revised down, while the number of injured rose from 165.

"After we homed in on the details of those killed and injured... at this moment there are 185 injured, 19 corpses and three bags of body parts," Mr Zayed said, without giving further details.

She did not explain how the death toll discrepancy arose.

The people of El Maragha, the town near the crash site, rushed to help after the collision.

“One of the great things about yesterday was the speed with which people came together to support the victims’ families,” said Mohamed Reda, a local resident.

Announcements rolled out all day on Friday and Saturday from loudspeakers scattered around the town, calling on residents to head to hospitals to donate blood for the injured.

"Once the announcement was heard through the speakers, the streets of Al Maragha were flooded with people heading to help out," he told The National, from the town on the banks of the Nile.

“They visited hospitals and if there was a shortage, they went and bought it from medical centres and brought it to the hospitals,” said Mr Reda.

Many people donated food, water and blankets to local hospitals.

Images shared online on Friday from the town and nearby areas showed dozens of men lining up to donate blood at hospitals.

Residents also posted their phone numbers and addresses on social media support groups that quickly sprang up, offering accommodation to relatives who had come to claim the bodies of loved ones, and travellers left stranded

The first funerals took place on Saturday, with small groups of family and friends in attendance in villages surrounding Tahta, near the crash site.

In Cairo, a statement by the country’s chief prosecutor said the train drivers, their assistants and signal staff were being questioned.

They would also undergo drug tests and their mobile phones would be examined, added the statement.

Mr El Sisi, whose government is in the middle of a multibillion-dollar programme to upgrade the railway system, has demanded that anyone found to be responsible for the crash – whether through negligence or corruption – be brought to justice.

"The pain in our hearts today will only increase our determination to put an end to this type of disaster," Mr El Sisi wrote on social media on Friday.

On Saturday, according to a statement, the president gave orders that measures be taken to strike a balance between upgrading the railway system and safely running the service in the meantime.

“The completion of the [overhaul plan] of the system is the only way to avoid this type of disaster,” the statement quoted Mr El Sisi as saying in his meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and seven ministers.

The Health Ministry and the state-owned Railway Authority have said the crash happened when the first train's emergency brakes were triggered by unknown individuals, causing it to come to an abrupt stop.

Another train approaching from behind then collided with it, overturning two carriages.

The engine car of the second train was derailed.

Online video and images from the site, a rural area by the side of a canal, showed a chaotic scene, with dozens of civilians and rescue workers sifting through the wreckage looking for survivors.

Bodies of victims were covered with sheets and laid next to the wreckage. On Saturday, security forces cordoned off the site of the crash.

Emergency service personnel and engineers worked through the night on Friday to clear wrecked train carriages.

Giant cranes removed the wreckage and tons of debris from the rail, allowing normal traffic to return to normal 24 hours after the crash.

Train accidents are not uncommon in Egypt, where the rail network is stretched and the signal system is antiquated.

Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir said on Saturday that 225 billion pounds have been set aside to upgrade the railway service, of which nearly 50 billion would go to overhauling the signals system alone.

“I offer an apology from me and every railway employee for this painful accident,” said the minister, a former general who previously led the army’s Engineering Corps.

“We have a long way to go,” Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli told reporters on Friday, referring to efforts to overhaul the railway system. “It is not a question of funding but rather the time it will take to upgrade the system.

"Regrettably, while we are doing this, accidents do happen, so we have no choice but to speed up the process of overhauling the system."

Mr Madbouli said the government will pay 100,000 Egyptian pounds to each family who lost a loved one and between 20,000-40,000 to those injured.

Friday's crash was the deadliest rail accident since February 2019, when an engine car laden with fuel hit a wall at Cairo's main train station, starting a fire that killed 22 people and injured scores.

In 2017, two passenger trains collided in northern Egypt, killing at least 41 people and injuring more than 120.