At least seven people were killed and 112 injured on Sunday when two passenger trains collided near Al-Ayyat in Egypt’s Giza province, south of Cairo. The crash derailed several carriages and brought services on the busy Cairo to Upper Egypt line to a halt, as emergency crews worked through the day to free trapped passengers and clear the wreckage.
FAKTA
- What happened: A train travelling from Giza to Fayoum struck the rear of a train travelling from Cairo to Aswan near Al-Ayyat, Giza province.
- When: Sunday, 8 November 2026
- Casualties: At least seven people killed and 112 injured, according to Egypt’s Health Ministry
- Trains involved: Train No. 134 (Giza to Fayoum) and Train No. 2010 (Cairo to Aswan)
- Response: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered an urgent investigation, and prosecutors have opened an inquiry into the cause
How the crash happened
According to Egypt’s railway authority, the Giza to Fayoum service ran into the back of the Cairo to Aswan train between Kafr Ammar and Raqqa stations. The second train was standing on the same track when the collision happened. Several carriages left the rails and some overturned, trapping passengers inside.
More than 70 ambulances were sent to the scene, and the injured were taken to hospitals across the Giza area. The Health Ministry first reported four dead and 88 injured, then raised the toll to seven dead and 112 injured as hospitals reported in. More than 70 of the injured had been discharged after treatment, while the rest remained in hospital.
Investigation ordered
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was following the accident with great concern and directed the authorities to carry out an urgent investigation and hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent. Egypt’s public prosecution has also opened an investigation into the technical circumstances of the crash.
No cause has been announced yet. The railway authority has not said when normal services on the Cairo to Upper Egypt line will resume, as workers continue to remove the wreckage from the track.
A troubled safety record
The crash has renewed questions about safety on Egypt’s railways, one of the oldest and largest networks in the region. Al-Ayyat carries a painful history: in 2002, a fire swept through an overcrowded passenger train there, killing more than 360 people in the country’s worst rail disaster.
The government has spent billions of Egyptian pounds modernising the network in recent years, but serious accidents have continued to happen. Sunday’s collision adds fresh pressure on the authorities to find what went wrong and prevent another loss of life. More world news is available on Watan News.
