Minya Governorate via Ahram Online
A locomotive engineer was detained for a drug test after crashing into the rear of Egyptian passenger train bound for Cairo, killing one person and injuring more than 20 on Sunday.
Two of the train’s cars derailed and plunged into an adjacent canal after the collision, Egypt’s Ahram Online news website reported.
A video clip posted online showed rescuers helping passengers out of the partially submerged train cars.
The identity of the person killed in the crash wasn’t immediately released. The Health Ministry said 21 other people were taken to local hospitals, with 19 released after receiving treatment, according to the Associated Press.
The deadly mishap took place in the province of Minya, about 170 miles south of Cairo, AP said, citing Egyptian National Railways.
Egypt’s prosecutor-general, Mohamed Shawki, ordered an investigation into the crash and had the locomotive engineer taken into custody for a drug test, Ahram Online said.
The crash marked the latest involving Egypt’s aging and mismanaged railway system, AP said.
Last month, four people were killed when two trains collided in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, Ahram Online reported at the time.
In 2018, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said it would cost more than $8 billion to overhaul the country’s rail network.
