Ramses Station rail disaster

Ramses Station rail disaster
Ramses Station rail disaster is located in Egypt
Ramses Station rail disaster
Details
Date27 February 2019
around 08:00 am (CAT)
LocationRamses Square, Cairo
Coordinates30°03′47″N 31°14′48″E / 30.06306°N 31.24667°E / 30.06306; 31.24667
CountryEgypt
LineAlexandria-Cairo line
OperatorEgyptian National Railways
Incident typeDerailment and engine failure
Statistics
Trains1
Deaths25
Injured50

The Ramses Station rail disaster occurred on 27 February 2019 in Ramses Station of Cairo, Egypt.[1] Twenty-five people were killed and forty injured.[2][3][4][5][6]

Crash

In the early morning of 27 February 2019, in Cairo's main train station, Ramses Station, a locomotive hit the buffers at the end of the track at platform 6 at high speed,[7] causing an explosion that sparked a major blaze and fireball that blackened the walls of the station. The locomotive could later be seen inside, leaning to one side next to a platform.[1] One eyewitness said:[2]

I saw a man pointing from the locomotive as it entered the platform, and screaming, ‘There are no brakes, there are no brakes’ before he jumped out of the locomotive. He was probably the driver, but I don’t know what happened to him.

It was later confirmed that the driver was not inside the locomotive during the accident.[7] According to Egypt's Prosecutor General, Nabil Sadek, one train driver had left his train to fight with another train driver; thereafter, the unmanned train struck the barrier.[8][7]

Transport Minister Hisham Arafat resigned after the incident.[3]

An Egyptian member of parliament publicly called for the employees that were responsible for the accident to face the death penalty.[9]

It was revealed that the train's driver had left the brakes off.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Deadly fire after train crashes at Cairo's main station". France 24. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Deadly fire at Cairo's main rail station". BBC News. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Egypt: Dozens killed in crash and fire at Cairo train station". Al Jazeera. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  4. ^ Samaan, Magdy (28 February 2019). "25 Dead after train explodes inside station". The Times. No. 72782. p. 34. ISSN 0140-0460.
  5. ^ "Egypt's prime minister to deliver statement before parliament on deadly Cairo train crash: Parliament speaker - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  6. ^ MEM News (February 27, 2019). "Egypt: 25 killed, dozens injured in deadly train station fire". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Locomotive that caused Ramses station fire had no driver: official". Egypt Today. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Fight between conductors caused train crash that killed at least 25 in Cairo". The Times of Israel. Associated Press. February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  9. ^ MEM News (March 4, 2019). "Egypt MP calls for execution of negligent employees after Ramses station fire". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Cairo Train Driver Left Brakes Off". BBC News. February 28, 2019.