Twenty-seven Egypt students injured after train and bus collide in northeast

Twenty-seven students were injured in Egypt on Wednesday after a train crashed into a bus in the northeastern city of Zagazig, state health authorities announced.

The accident happened near a convergence of railway lines in the Husseiniya area of Zagazig, which is the capital of Sharqiya province, and led to the bus carrying the students overturning.

Mamdouh Gharrab, the governor of Sharqiya, announced later that the bus and all the debris left by the accident had been cleared.

Hisham Masou, the representative of the Egyptian health ministry in Sharqiya province said that the 27 injured students had been taken to two hospitals in Zagazig.

قطار يصدم سيارة اتوبيس لطلاب جامعة. فوق مزلقان الحسينية في الزقازيق والعناية الآلهيه انقذت الركاب pic.twitter.com/IfTKDUMMIZ

— الصيني واحد 1 بس {البديل2} (@alsiynii) November 9, 2022

Train accidents are common in Egypt, which has a very poor rail safety record. Experts have blamed a lack of government investment in the railway system and poor management.

There were 978 railway accidents with 405 deaths in 2021, an increase on the 898 accidents and 296 deaths recorded in 2020.

In March and April 2021, the country saw three deadly accidents in quick succession that killed scores and injured hundreds.

The government has since said that the Egyptian National Railway Authority is implementing a comprehensive plan to modernise its network and prevent accidents.

The project will cost an estimated 200 billion Egyptian pounds ($8 billion) and is due for completion in 2024.