Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi vowed to punish those responsible for a train crash on Friday that killed at least 32 people and injured over 100, in the latest of several fatal rail accidents to befall the country. 

The Egyptian railway authority said the crash, which left passengers trapped under wreckage, was caused by "unknown individuals" pulling the emergency brakes.

Responding to the crash, which also reportedly killed one of the drivers, Mr Sisi warned that whoever was responsible would face consequences.

“Anyone who caused this painful accident through negligence or corruption, or anything similar, must receive a deterrent punishment without exception or delay,” he said in a statement on Twitter.

It is understood that both trains were travelling in the same direction and the sudden braking caused the second train to crash into the first from behind, though a railway spokesman said the investigation was ongoing.

"The trains collided while going at not very high speeds, which led to the destruction of two carriages and a third to overturn," a security source told Reuters news agency.

Video footage showed some victims that appeared to be unconscious, while others could be seen bleeding.

Bystanders carried bodies and laid them out on the ground near the crash site, which is close to the Nile-side town of Tahta, about 230 miles south of Cairo.

Egyptian prime minister Mostafa Madbouly is now at the scene of the accident, the latest in several crashes in Egypt which have caused hundreds of deaths in recent years. 




Egyptians frequently complain about the country's crumbling public transport, where railway lines are poorly maintained.

More than 1.4 million passengers are thought to travel by rail every day.

Dr Mohamad Elmasry, an analyst of Egyptian affairs at Doha University, said Mr Sisi should take more responsibility for the train crashes, in an article for Al Jazeera in 2019.

“It is true that Egypt’s transport infrastructure was crumbling long before Sisi took power, and it is also true that any Egyptian government with meagre means would struggle to quickly modernise [infrastructure,]" he wrote.

"But it is also true that in his five years as president, el-Sisi has been badly mismanaging the economy, squandering money on infrastructure schemes of dubious value.”

telegraph. co. uk / egypt-train-crash-32-killed-people-scores-injured-serious-head