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Six detained for four days over deadly Cairo train crash

Six detained for four days over deadly Cairo train crash
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Fire fighters and onlookers gather at the scene of a fiery train crash at the Egyptian capital Cairo's main railway station on February 27, 2019. The crash killed at least 22 people and injured 40 others. (AFP / Ahmad Hassan)
Six detained for four days over deadly Cairo train crash
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People gather in front of the Egyptian capital Cairo's main railway station where a fiery train crash took place on February 27, 2019. The crash killed at least 20 people, Egyptian security and medical sources said. The accident, which sparked a major blaze at the Ramses station, also injured 40 others, the sources said. / AFP / Ahmad Hassan
Updated 01 March 2019

Six detained for four days over deadly Cairo train crash

Six detained for four days over deadly Cairo train crash
  • A public prosecutor earlier blamed the accident on a driver who stepped off the train without pulling the hand brake
  • Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed on Thursday revised the death toll from the crash to 22

CAIRO: Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered on Thursday the detention of six people for four days in connection with a locomotive that smashed through the buffers and burst into flames at Cairo’s main train station on Wednesday.
The train’s driver, his assistant, another train driver and three other rail employees will be held for four days pending investigations into the incident, the public prosecutor said in a statement.
Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Thursday the death toll from the crash rose to 22. State TV had said on Wednesday that 25 people died in the crash, but the health minister revised the toll down to 20 later in the day and said 43 people were injured.
Egypt’s public prosecutor said on Wednesday that a 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.
Security camera footage from inside the capital’s Ramses station showed the train failing to stop as it arrived at platform six, smashing through the buffers and a metal end railing and exploding into a huge ball of fire.
Transport minister Hisham Arafat, who said the train’s diesel tank had exploded, resigned on Wednesday.
Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker will temporarily head the transport ministry, a cabinet source said on Wednesday.