Egypt Reports Two Train Accidents within 24 hours

Sohag train accident last March (AFP)
Sohag train accident last March (AFP)
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Egypt Reports Two Train Accidents within 24 hours

Sohag train accident last March (AFP)
Sohag train accident last March (AFP)

Dozens were injured in a train crash in Alexandria, less than 24 hours after another train accident killed two and injured six Egyptians in Cairo.

The Egyptian prosecution is investigating the circumstances of the two accidents.

The Railways Authority said in a statement that the Alexandria-Cairo train crashed with a moving tractor number 3219 while it was leaving platform 8 at the Alexandria Station.

The train driver and his assistant were apprehended and transferred to public prosecution.

The ministry of health said that 40 persons were injured in the accident.

The Authority also announced on Monday that a train in a Cairo suburb collided with two buses parked dangerously close to the train tracks. The driver was unable to stop the train, which led to a collision with one of the buses, killing two and injuring six others.

During April and March, Egypt witnessed several train accidents that killed and injured several persons. The Cairo-Mansoura train accident resulted in 23 deaths and 139 injuries, and in Minya al-Qamh a train derailed killing 14 people.

In April, Two trains collided in Sohag in Upper Egypt, killing 20 people and injuring about two hundred others. The Public Prosecution charged railway employees and drivers with "negligence and drug abuse", as part of efforts to uncover the circumstances of the accident.

The Public Prosecutor, Counselor Hamada El-Sawi, ordered an urgent investigation into the incident of a train collision with two buses in Helwan.

Meanwhile, Head of Parliament's Transport Committee MP Alaa Abed said that the committee is following up with the Ministry of Transportation to uncover the details of the accidents.

The Chairman added that the committee is awaiting technical reports to identify the causes of the two accidents, noting that it will hold an urgent meeting to discuss the incidents while taking the necessary measures.

He asserted that if the investigations of the public prosecution proved that the collisions were caused by human error, the committee will demand severe punishments.

Abed praised the state agencies that helped in solving most of the problems in record time and the speedy response in transporting the injured to hospitals.

He also lauded the security officials and local development agencies for removing the rubble in record time.



Survivors, Bodies Recovered from Capsized Red Sea Tourist Boat

25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)
25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)
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Survivors, Bodies Recovered from Capsized Red Sea Tourist Boat

25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)
25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)

Rescuers on Tuesday recovered five survivors and four bodies from a dive boat that capsized off Egypt's eastern coast a day earlier, Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said.  

A military-led team rescued two Belgians, one Swiss national, one Finnish tourist and one Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors from the accident to 33.  

The "Sea Story" had been carrying 31 tourists of multiple nationalities and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt early on Monday, causing it to capsize.

The four bodies recovered on Tuesday have not yet been identified, and eight people are still missing after 28 were rescued on Monday.

A government source close to rescue operations said the five survivors were found on Tuesday morning inside the boat, which the governor said had been thrown on its side by an early morning wave but had not completely sunk.  

The group had spent at least 24 hours in the overturned vessel after authorities first received distress calls at 5:30 AM (0330 GMT) on Monday.  

"Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers," the Red Sea governor told AFP Tuesday, declining to provide any further details about the operation.  

The four bodies recovered on Tuesday were also located inside the stricken vessel.  

The boat had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200 kilometers (124 miles) north.  

The governor on Monday said it capsized "suddenly and quickly within 5-7 minutes" of the impact with the wave, leaving some passengers -- among them European, Chinese and American tourists -- unable to set out of their cabins in time.  

- Still missing -  

Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat pulled 28 people from the water on Monday.  

According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged on Monday.   

According to the governor's office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.  

Among the missing are two Polish tourists and one from Finland, according to both countries' foreign ministries.  

Authorities in Egypt have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault.  

There were at least two similar boat accidents in the Marsa Alam area earlier this year, but no fatalities.  

The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis.  

Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of its GDP.  

Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt's eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.