Policemen stand guard in front of a damaged train inside Ramsis train station in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. (Photo: AP)
A North Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of six railway workers who were detained for four days on Thursday for investigation into their involvement in a deadly train crash last week.
The court rejected a request to release the defendants, who include the drivers and drivers’ assistants of the two trains involved in the crash, as well as a worker tasked with switching junctions and a manoeuvring operator on one of the trains, and renewed their detention for 15 days.
At least 22 people were killed and dozens injured when a train crashed into the barriers at Cairo’s busiest station Ramses on Wednesday morning, sparking a huge fire.
Prior to the crash the driver of the train had dismounted, without turning off its engine, to speak with the driver of a second train that had blocked his.
When the two trains disengaged, the now-unmanned train moved at maximum speed towards the station until it collided with a concrete barrier at the end of the line and burst into flames.
Transport Minister Hisham Arafat resigned hours after the accident.
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