Train derails in Egypts Giza, no deaths confirmed

A train heading from Cairo to the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag was derailed in the Badrasheen area of Giza on Tuesday after hitting barriers deliberately placed on the track by passengers from another train. A number of people were reportedly injured, although no deaths have been confirmed.

Ahmed El-Ansary, head of the Egyptian Ambulance Organization, which is affiliated with the health ministry, said that four passengers had been injured but that no one had been killed.

"The injured were treated by paramedics," he said, according to Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website. "They only sustained bruises and are all in stable condition."

Reuters quoted unnamed security and medical sources as saying that at least 15 passengers had been injured, while no deaths had been confirmed.

Egyptian National Railways head Hani Hegab, however, told state-run news agency MENA that the accident had in fact resulted in deaths, but that the toll had yet to be confirmed.

MENA also reported that train number 990 had been derailed after hitting barriers placed on the track by disgruntled passengers from another train.  

According to Hegab, passengers from train number 162 on the Cairo-Assiut line were angry because their train had to make an unscheduled stop to allow another train to pass.

Consequently, frustrated passengers of the halted train positioned blocks on the track that caused three carriages of train 990 to flip over.

A police investigation is currently underway aimed at ascertaining the reasons for the accident.