Al-Ayyat train accident as three train carriages derailed in Giza Wednesday morning September 7th. (Photo: Al Ahram)
Five people were killed and 27 were injured when three train carriages derailed in Giza’s El-Ayyat Wednesday morning, according Egypt's health ministry.
Transportation minister Galal Said, along with the head of Railway Authority Medhat Shousha, is inspecting the site of the accident, where the train was on its way to Assiut from Cairo.
El-Ayyat has witnessed a number of train crashes, most recently in January 2016 when a train coming from Upper Egypt crashed into a car that was crossing the railway, killing seven people.
In 2002, a train caught fire in El-Ayyat, killing at least 380 people, the worst railway disaster in Egypt's history.
Egypt's railway system is operated manually, with employees responsible for managing the opening of crossings by communicating with drivers – a practice that is considered potentially unsafe and unreliable.
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