Level crossing horror as train ploughs into Egyptian school bus killing 50 including 48 nursery school children
- Bus was carrying around 60 children aged between four and eight
- Rail crossing barriers were open when crash happened, witnesses said
- Distraught families searched for signs of their loved ones among the wreckage in the southern Assiut province, around 190 miles south of Cairo
- Egypt's worst rail tragedy since President Mohammed Morsi took power
- Egyptian Transport Minister and chief of the rail authority have resigned
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER PUBLISHED: 08:22 GMT, 17 November 2012 | UPDATED: 17:32 GMT, 17 November 2012
A speeding train slammed into a bus carrying kindergarteners to their school as it crossed tracks in a city south of Cairo, killing at least 50.All but two of the dead were children, aged around four to eight, according to a senior security official near to the scene of the crash. A woman and the bus driver also died in the crash near to the village of al-Mandara in the Manfaloot district of the Assiut province, he said.
Search for survivors: Distraught Egyptians look for signs of their loved ones in the wreckage of the train crash that killed 50 people, most of them children
Relatives of victims look at the wreckage of the bus after a train crashed into it killing 50 people, mostly children
Disaster: Egyptians gather at the wreckage of the train and bus collision which killed 50, most of them children
The bus, which was carrying around 60 children earlier today, was broken in half by the force of the crash.
Witnesses said barriers at the rail crossing were open when the train hit the bus.
Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority Mustafa Qenawi have resigned, and President Mohammed Mursi said those responsible would be held to account. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil ordered an investigation into the crash and travelled to the scene. Distraught families searched for signs of their loved ones along the tracks and angry villagers berated officials in the aftermath of the latest disaster to hit the country's railway system.
The aftermath: Egyptians gather at the scene of the train crash in the Assiut province in southern Egypt
People gather belongings and body parts at the scene of the Egyptian train crash that killed 50 people
People stand on train tracks in the chaotic aftermath of the train and bus collision in Assiut Province
A security official said it seems the railroad crossing was not closed as the train sped toward it, leading to the crash about 300 km (190 miles) south of the capital. Accidents traced to negligence regularly left scores dead during the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, who was accused of valuing loyalty over competence in many appointments of senior officials.
State media reported that as well as 50 dead, 15 or more people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children. This is the worst such tragedy since the country's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, took power this summer.
Books, school bags and children's socks were strewn along the tracks near the mangled bus. Parents of the missing wailed as they looked for signs of their children. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said many of the remains were unrecognisable.
People inspect the site of the horrific crash in the Assiut province, about 190 miles south of Cairo
People are seen walking on train tracks after the crash, which left up to 48 children dead
Chaos: A man sifts through books and school bags that were strewn along the tracks following the crash
A woman who called herself Um Ibrahim, a mother of three, was pulling her hair in distress. 'My children! I didn't feed you before you left,' she wailed.
One witness said the train pushed the bus along the tracks for nearly a kilometer (half mile).
As one man picked up a body part he screamed: 'Only God can help!' Egypt's railway system has a poor safety record, mostly blamed on badly maintained equipment and poor management.
Earlier this month, at least three Egyptians were killed and more than 30 injured in a train crash in Fayoum, another city south of Cairo. In July, 15 people were injured in Giza, close to the capital, when a train derailed.
The railway's worst disaster took place in February 2002 when a train heading to southern Egypt caught fire, killing 363 people.
Media reports quoted official statistics saying that the rail and road accidents claimed more than 7,000 lives in 2010.
An overview of Asyut in the Assiut district of Egypt and around 190 miles south of Cairo, near to where the crash occurred
Southern province: An overview of Asyut downtown, which is in the Assiut district near to where the crash happened
Resignation: Egyptian Transport Minister Rashad al-Mateeni, who resigned following today's tragedy
In al-Mandara village, along the tracks, angry families and locals gathered around the scene of the traffic, shouting at officials. Some chanted: 'Down with Morsi!' Sheik Mohammed Hassan, a villager, said the government should be paying more attention to its domestic problems instead of focusing its attention to the violence in neighboring Gaza.
'The blood of people in Assiut is more important than Gaza,' he said.
While official reports said 47 children had died, a doctor at a hospital in Assiut said the death toll was 38, among them 37 young children.'They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it,' doctor Mohamed Samir said, citing witness accounts.He said four children and two women had also been seriously injured in the accident.Assiut Governor Yahya Keshk also said the crossing was open. 'The crossing worker was asleep. He has been detained,' he told state television.
Search for survivors: Distraught Egyptians look for signs of their loved ones in the wreckage of the train crash that killed 50 people, most of them children
Relatives of victims look at the wreckage of the bus after a train crashed into it killing 50 people, mostly children
Disaster: Egyptians gather at the wreckage of the train and bus collision which killed 50, most of them children
The bus, which was carrying around 60 children earlier today, was broken in half by the force of the crash.
Witnesses said barriers at the rail crossing were open when the train hit the bus.
Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority Mustafa Qenawi have resigned, and President Mohammed Mursi said those responsible would be held to account. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil ordered an investigation into the crash and travelled to the scene. Distraught families searched for signs of their loved ones along the tracks and angry villagers berated officials in the aftermath of the latest disaster to hit the country's railway system.
The aftermath: Egyptians gather at the scene of the train crash in the Assiut province in southern Egypt
People gather belongings and body parts at the scene of the Egyptian train crash that killed 50 people
People stand on train tracks in the chaotic aftermath of the train and bus collision in Assiut Province
A security official said it seems the railroad crossing was not closed as the train sped toward it, leading to the crash about 300 km (190 miles) south of the capital. Accidents traced to negligence regularly left scores dead during the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, who was accused of valuing loyalty over competence in many appointments of senior officials.
State media reported that as well as 50 dead, 15 or more people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children. This is the worst such tragedy since the country's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, took power this summer.
Books, school bags and children's socks were strewn along the tracks near the mangled bus. Parents of the missing wailed as they looked for signs of their children. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said many of the remains were unrecognisable.
People inspect the site of the horrific crash in the Assiut province, about 190 miles south of Cairo
People are seen walking on train tracks after the crash, which left up to 48 children dead
Chaos: A man sifts through books and school bags that were strewn along the tracks following the crash
A woman who called herself Um Ibrahim, a mother of three, was pulling her hair in distress. 'My children! I didn't feed you before you left,' she wailed.
One witness said the train pushed the bus along the tracks for nearly a kilometer (half mile).
As one man picked up a body part he screamed: 'Only God can help!' Egypt's railway system has a poor safety record, mostly blamed on badly maintained equipment and poor management.
Earlier this month, at least three Egyptians were killed and more than 30 injured in a train crash in Fayoum, another city south of Cairo. In July, 15 people were injured in Giza, close to the capital, when a train derailed.
The railway's worst disaster took place in February 2002 when a train heading to southern Egypt caught fire, killing 363 people.
Media reports quoted official statistics saying that the rail and road accidents claimed more than 7,000 lives in 2010.
An overview of Asyut in the Assiut district of Egypt and around 190 miles south of Cairo, near to where the crash occurred
Southern province: An overview of Asyut downtown, which is in the Assiut district near to where the crash happened
Resignation: Egyptian Transport Minister Rashad al-Mateeni, who resigned following today's tragedy
In al-Mandara village, along the tracks, angry families and locals gathered around the scene of the traffic, shouting at officials. Some chanted: 'Down with Morsi!' Sheik Mohammed Hassan, a villager, said the government should be paying more attention to its domestic problems instead of focusing its attention to the violence in neighboring Gaza.
'The blood of people in Assiut is more important than Gaza,' he said.
While official reports said 47 children had died, a doctor at a hospital in Assiut said the death toll was 38, among them 37 young children.'They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it,' doctor Mohamed Samir said, citing witness accounts.He said four children and two women had also been seriously injured in the accident.Assiut Governor Yahya Keshk also said the crossing was open. 'The crossing worker was asleep. He has been detained,' he told state television.
