Egypt - Rail Crossing Tragedy

[John Ashworth]

Rail Crossing Tragedy: 40 Killed
Sky News
12:00am UK, Thursday July 17, 2008

Forty people have been killed and 40 were injured when a train crashed into several vehicles on a railway crossing in northern Egypt.

The accident happened after a lorry ploughed into vehicles including a car and a bus waiting at the crossing, pushing them onto the tracks.

According to reports from the scene, the train careered into the vehicles seconds later.

The state news agency MENA quoted officials as saying the lorry's brakes had failed.

The force of the impact flipped two of the train's carriages over and unhitched three more, a source added.

MENA said the dead and injured had been transferred to a number of local hospitals.

The train was travelling between Matruh and Alexandria.

A series of road and rail accidents in Egypt over the past few years has triggered a public outcry over the government's handling of road and transport safety.

Two years ago, a train crash killed 58 people and injured scores more in the Nile Delta town of Qalyoub, north of Cairo.

In 2002, 360 people were killed when fire ripped through seven carriages of a crowded passenger train.