Egypt's top prosecutor detains train driver in Ayyat crash over murder charges

El-Sayed Gamal El-Din , Thursday 8 Sep 2016

Egypt's prosecutor general Nabil Sadek ordered the detention of Al-Ayyat train driver for four days pending investigations over accusations of murder and attempted murder of 35 people in Giza's Al Ayyat deadly train crash that killed 5 people.

Five people were killed and 27 were injured when three train carriages derailed in Giza’s El-Ayyat Wednesday morning.

A technical committee was assigned to compile a report after investigating the incident and determinig the extent of damages.

Giza governor Mohamed Al-Dali issued compensation: EGP 5000 for the families of deceased and EGP 2000 for those injured in the train accident.

Al-Ayyat, about 70 km south of Cairo, also witnessed the worst train disaster in Egypt when a train packed to double capacity caught fire, killing 373 in 2002.

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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