Two dead and 49 wounded in latest train collision in Egypt

Egypt’s health ministry says three people were killed and 49 were injured after two trains collided in Egypt’s Nile Delta on Saturday, according to multiple news reports. 

The incident occurred in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province. Two children were reportedly among the dead. CNN reports the ministry stating at least five of the injured were in “unstable conditions”.

Egypt has a bad track record when it comes to deadly train accidents, with fatal incidents reported almost every year over the past two decades. 

Citing data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, CNN reports there were more than 2000 train accidents in 2018 and close to 1800 in the year prior. 

The last major collision occurred in 2021 when at least 32 people were killed. More than 40 were killed in another collision that occurred in Alexandria in 2017. And in 2012, 44 children were killed after a train crashed into a school bus. 

Experts blame the high accident rate on an aging railway system that is poorly maintained and mismanaged. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has vowed to improve Egypt’s infrastructure but it would require substantial investment. The Guardian reports Sisi saying in 2018, a thorough overhaul would cost roughly $8 billion.