At least eleven people were killed and 98 people injured in a train derailment north of the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday, the local health ministry said in a statement.
The train was on its way from Cairo to the northern city of Mansoura at around 2:00 pm (local time), when four wagons got off the rails some 40 kilometers outside the capital.
More than fifty ambulances came out to help the many injured. Images show how people try to climb out of the overturned wagons. Most injured people have suffered fractures and cuts.
It is still unclear how the accident could have happened. Authorities have started an investigation and arrested the train conductor.
Train accidents happen with some regularity in Egypt. In a head-on collision between two trains came close to the city of Sohag in March another twenty people were killed and two hundred were injured.
In the meantime, pressure is mounting on the Egyptian Transport Minister, Kamel El-Wazir, to resign due to the poor safety record of the railways. He refuses, because he says he wants to work on improving the very outdated railways.
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