Egypt

Qalyubiya train crash driver referred to trial

The Qalyubiya public prosecutor referred train driver Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Hamid and his assistant Sayed Ibrahim to trial on Tuesday.

The defendants are accused of negligence and exceeding the speed limit while entering a station, leading to the death of six people and the injury of nine others.  

A committee of technicians, engineers and railway officials prepared a report for the prosecution based on their examination of the train, in which they said that the accident occurred because the train was moving too quickly upon entering the station.

The report added the train was in good condition and the brakes worked well.

Qalyubiya has been the scene of previous train accidents. In 2006, 58 people were killed after two commuter trains collided in the area.

Egyptians have long complained of the failure of successive governments to uphold safety standards on the nation’s railways. Egypt’s worst railway accident took place in 2002, when 363 people were killed after a train caught fire.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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