Egypt's health minister alters reported number of deaths in Sohag train collision to at least 19

Ahram Online , Saturday 27 Mar 2021

Zayed said 20 victims were mistakenly reported dead at the site of the crash

Hala Zayed
Egypt's Minister of Health Hala Zayed (Photo: Al-Ahram)

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed on Saturday altered the number of deaths in the Sohag train collision that occurred yesterday from 32 to at least 19, saying some of the victims were mistakenly reported dead after they had gone into a coma.

 Accordingly, the number of injured victims rose to 185, Zayed added.

“Today, after we had further checked the injuries and deaths, we found there were 64 people dead or injured taken by citizens [to hospitals]. Twenty of them were [found to be] in a coma,” Zayed said during a cabinet meeting.

She added that the 20 victims were mistakenly reported dead at the site of the accident.

Zayed said “three bags of body parts” were also received by three different hospitals besides the 19 intact bodies, but it wasn't specified how many bodies these parts belonged to.

“The rise in the number of injuries comes after the cases that the citizens reported dead at the scene, were found to be in a complete coma,” she added.
Zayed said 116 victims suffer from bone fractures and 49 injured people needed surgeries. She added that 11 vicitms underwent surgeries and three cases who need more advanced surgeries were moved to the Nasser Institute Hospital in Cairo.

She noted that 90 injured people were allowed to leave hospital after receiving treatment. It is expected that at least 30 victims will leave hospital on Saturday.

The tragic incident on Friday occurred as two trains collided in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag. The Ministry of Transportation says unknown individuals activated the emergency brake causing the train to stop and a rear-end collision to occur.

Officials and ministers moved to the scene and the prosecution-general commenced an investigation.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi vowed “deterrent punishment” against the culprits.

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