Railway Authority Chairman sacked over Cairo-Aswan train derailment

CAIRO - 29 July 2018: Transport Minister Hisham Arafat sacked Railway Authority Chairman Sayed Salem over the Cairo-Aswan derailment on Sunday.

Arafat ordered Ashraf Raslan to be the authority's acting board chairman.

Train 982, travelling from Cairo to Aswan, went off track in front of a Kom Ombo village in northern Aswan early Sunday.

Winches headed for Aswan to lift the train carriages and resume train traffic that was disrupted following the derailment.

This is the second train accident in July after the Cairo-Qena train accident.

Arafat decided to form a technical committee to examine reasons behind the Cairo-Aswan train derailment.

In a statement on Sunday, the minister said the deputy chairman of the Railway Authority will chair the committee.

Six people were injured in the accident.