Egyptian train crash kills 19

Author: Nehal El-Sherif

   Cairo (dpa) - A train derailed and crashed in Egypt on Tuesday, killing 19 soldiers, the health ministry said.

   The accident happened when a carriage derailed and hit a freight train some 30 kilometres south of Cairo, said Hussein Zakareya, chief of Egypt's Railway Authority.

   The train was returning to the capital from the southern Assiut province with more than 1,300 conscripts on board.

   President Mohammed Morsi visited victims of the crash, who were transported to a military hospital in Cairo.  

   "This is a sad day for Egyptians. I send my condolences to the families of martyrs who were on their way to fulfill their national duty and my prayers to the injured for speedy recovery," said Morsi.

   Prime Minister Hisham Qandil visited the scene, where 117 people were injured.

   Facing mounting pressure to improve rail safety, Morsi appointed a new transportation minister two weeks ago.

   "Allocating enough resources for developing railways and revising the distribution of the coming budget to save lives of people would be the priority," the deputy chairman of Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Essam al-Erian, said.

    FJP is the political arm of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group.

   Dozens of people staged a protest in Cairo's main railway station after the incident, chanting slogans against the government and Morsi's Islamist supporters.

   "Egypt's real tragedy is not about the affiliation of its rulers but rather their inability to manage the country," said Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader.

   Forty-nine children on their way to school were killed in November when a train crashed into their school bus.

   The worst rail disaster was in February 2002 when a train heading to southern Egypt caught fire, killing more than 360 people.

picked up by Mcclatchy and  BellinghamHerald