The stretch of railway between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa has seen this before. In 2002, a fire on a Cairo-to-Luxor train killed more than 370 people — officially. In 2009, two more crashes in the same area added dozens to the toll.
On Sunday, it happened again.
At least seven people are dead and more than 100 injured after two trains collided near Giza, sending carriages tumbling down an embankment in a scene that has become grimly familiar to Egyptians.
How It Happened
According to the country’s railway authority, two trains travelling south — one from Giza, one from Cairo — were involved in the collision.
The first, bound for Fayoum from Giza, crashed into the rear of a stationary service heading from Cairo to Aswan. The impact was violent enough to derail several carriages and send them down the embankment.
Images from the scene showed passengers and bystanders clambering inside overturned carriages, searching for the injured. At least one carriage appeared to have split in two.
The driver of one of the trains was among the dead, the ministry confirmed.
The Response
A massive emergency operation was launched, with hospitals in the area placed on heightened alert as they absorbed a flood of patients.
Health Minister Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said the injured were being treated for broken bones and head injuries. The Egyptian Red Crescent said it was providing aid and psychological support to victims and their families at the scene.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said he had ordered state authorities to investigate the circumstances of the accident and hold accountable anyone found negligent.
The public prosecutor’s office warned the death toll could rise.
A Corridor of Tragedy
The collision occurred in Al-Ayyat, close to the site of Egypt’s deadliest rail disaster in February 2002. That fire, on a train from Cairo to Luxor, was officially reported to have killed more than 370 people — though some estimates put the figure considerably higher.
Two further crashes in the area in 2009 killed dozens more.
The pattern has not gone unnoticed. On Sunday, there were calls in Egypt for the transport minister to resign over the latest disaster.
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Trains between Giza and the Upper Egypt region have been suspended, with cranes dispatched to clear the wreckage. The railway authority has not said how long that will take.
Condolences From Abroad
Foreign leaders and dignitaries offered support. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry expressed solidarity with Egypt and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Turkey’s ambassador to Egypt wrote on X that he extended heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathy to the victims, their families and the Egyptian people.
The Question Nobody Wants to Ask
Sunday’s crash was not an anomaly. It was the latest entry in a long and painful ledger — one that stretches back more than two decades and across the same stretch of track.
President al-Sisi has promised accountability. Egyptians will want to know what that means in practice, and why the same corridor keeps claiming lives.