Egypt PM promises harsh punishment for fire that has killed at least 25
A speeding train has crashed into a barrier at Cairo’s main railway station, causing its fuel tank to explode and triggering a huge fire that left at least 25 people dead, officials said.
Railway officials said the train was speeding and collided head-on with the barrier.
At least 47 people were also injured in Wednesday’s accident.
Photographs from the station showed charred bodies lying on the platforms at the Ramsis station in central Cairo as firefighters struggled to get the flames under control.
Heavy black smoke rose into the sky as ambulances rushed to the scene.
The Ramsis district is among the busiest and most crowded areas of the Egyptian capital.
The state railway agency briefly halted all train traffic and ordered the evacuation of the station.
A video that surfaced on social media showed men and women carrying bags and personal belonging and walking on the rail platforms as the train car crashed and exploded.
Another video showed men and women running, searching for exits after the explosion.
A man runs back and forth, his shirt on fire, until another man rushes to pour water on him.
Egypt’s prime minister Mustafa Madbouli said authorities must determine “who caused the accident and hold that person accountable”.
He promised “harsh punishment” for the culprits.
Official figures show that 1,793 train accidents took place in 2017 across the country.
In March last year, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said the government lacks about 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or 14.1 billion US dollars, to overhaul the run-down railway system.
Mr el-Sissi spoke a day after a passenger train collided with a cargo train, killing at least 12 people, including a child.
And in August 2017, two passenger trains collided just outside the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, killing 43 people.
In 2016, at least 51 people were killed when two commuter trains collided near Cairo.
