Sohag-Port Said train derailed; no injuries reported

CAIRO – 11 October 2020: Sohag-Port Said passenger train derailed in Zakazaik district on Sunday, an official at the General Railway Authority (GRA) told Youm7 newspaper.

 

As a result of the derailment, a carriage fall, but cranes managed to lift it; meanwhile, a tractor dragged the train back to its normal course on the tracks, the official said, adding that no human or financial causalities were reported.

 

A tragic accident took place in Cairo in February 2019 and reportedly killed 31 people and injured 17 others. It represents one of the deadliest disasters in Egypt’s modern history.

 

On February 27th, Cairo's busiest and main railway station, located in Ramses district, saw the deadly accident when a train, with no driver on board, was seen moving at an extremely high speed and crashing into the platform's buffer stop.

 

The collision caused an explosion of the fuel tank and triggered a huge blaze, leaving dozens killed. Then Transportation Minister Hesham Arafat submitted his resignation to the prime minister on the background of the blaze.

 

In March 2020, a Cairo criminal court sentenced the main defendant in the Ramses Railway Station train accident to 15 years in prison and fined him LE 8.89 million. It also sentenced another defendant in the case for 10 years in prison and handed two others 7 year imprisonment.