Cairo, Egypt – At least 20 people were killed and 43 other landed in hospital when a locomotive smashed through the buffer and engulfed in fires at Cairo’s main train station on Wednesday.
According to public prosecutor, preliminary investigation indicated the driver stepped off the train to talk to another driver without pulling the hand brake, causing the unattended locomotive to speed off and hit a concrete platform.
Witness Ibrahim Hussein said: “I saw a man pointing from the locomotive as it entered the platform, and screaming ‘There are no brakes! There are no brakes!’, before he jumped out of the locomotive. And I don’t know what happened to him”, Reuters quoted.
Security camera footage showed the train failing to stop as it arrived at platform, smashing through the buffers and a metal end railing and exploding into a huge ball of fire.
Passengers carrying luggage ran for their lives as the fire spread, and several people were running covered in flames, witnesses said.
Local television cited the train driver had been arrested.
Egypt, with its oldest and largest rail facilities in the region, face accidents causing substantial casualties and civilian deaths are common. A report in 2017 says at least 40 people lost their lives in a train collision in Alexandria.
Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards for the railways.
Follow TKG on Twitter & Facebook
