REPORT: At least 24 people killed when train collides with multiple vehicles

    
A cargo train travelling south of Egypt's capital slammed into vehicles crossing the tracks early on Monday, killing at least 24 people, many from the same family returning from a wedding party, state TV and the head of emergency services said.          

Ahmed el-Ansari, the emergency services chief, told The Associated Press the identities of the dead were not immediately clear.         

He said 28 people were injured, mostly with fractures, crush injuries and lost body parts, with some in critical condition.         

He said the scene had been cleared of victims.          

The general of the Giza security sector, Mahmoud Farouk meanwhile, put the number of killed at 27 and injured at 29.          

The discrepancy in numbers could not immediately be explained.           

Farouk said the capacity of the minibus was 26, yet it appeared over 50 passengers were onboard at the time of the accident.         

The head of the same sector told the Nile News state TV station that most of the dead and injured were family members on a bus returning from a wedding in Cairo and were heading to the southern city of Fayyoum.           

He said the train, which carried construction materials, also hit a small truck coming from the opposite direction.             

Some of the injured were taken to al-Haram hospital in Cairo.        

A security official said the train was travelling from the southern city of Beni Suef when it hit at least three vehicles near the village of Dahshur, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Cairo.         

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief reporters.        

According to the head of Egypt's railway initial reports indicated the crossing gates of the tracks had been closed and the train's driver was surprised to see vehicles still crossing.          

Egypt is notorious for train collisions and has a poor safety record that is mostly blamed on decades of badly maintained equipment.              


AP


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