Accessibility links

Breaking News

Train, Bus Collision in Egypt Kills Scores of School Children


Relatives of victims look at the wreckage of a bus after a train crashed into it in Assuit province, some 300 kilometers south of Cairo, November 17, 2012.
Relatives of victims look at the wreckage of a bus after a train crashed into it in Assuit province, some 300 kilometers south of Cairo, November 17, 2012.
Egyptian officials say a speeding train has collided with a school bus, killing at least 49 people. Almost all of them were young children.

Officials say the accident occurred Saturday about 300 kilometers south of Cairo near the village of Manfalut in Egypt's southern Assiut province.

The bus was filled with more than 60 children between the ages of four and six when it was hit by a train while crossing the tracks. Officials say that along with the 49 deaths, another 18 people were injured.

The provincial governor, Yahya Keshk, says the railway crossing gate was open when the train hit the bus, and that the crossing worker was asleep at the time. He has been detained.

Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad resigned shortly after the accident was announced.

President Mohamed Morsi has ordered other key ministers to offer assistance to the families of the victims.
  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG