Victims of deadly train collision in Egypt to be doubly compensated

Crews worked into the night at a site in southern Egypt where two trains crashed on Friday -- killing at least 32 people and injuring 165, according to local authorities.

After what appears to be the activation of the emergency brakes by an individual aboard the passenger train, it was rear-ended by another train -- causing two cars to derail and flip on their side.

Rail officials stated that the passenger train was headed to the Mediterranean port of Alexandria, north of Cairo.

The Egyptian prime minister Madbouly said during a press conference held after his visit to the wounded at a hospital in Sohag, in southern Egypt, that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered that the financial compensation of the victims of the deadly train collision and their families be doubled.

"Based on the instructions given by the President, we agreed on doubling the payment of compensation that would have been given for such accidents. God willing, when all the state apparatus is reunited, we will talk about a hundred thousand Egyptian pounds (aprox. 6,367 USD) for deaths cases and between 20,000 (aprox. 1,273 USD) and 40,000 (aprox. 2,547 USD) Egyptian pounds for injured cases, depending on the type of injury."

More than 100 ambulances were sent to the scene in the province of Sohag, about 440 kilometres (270 miles) south of Cairo, Health Minister Hala Zayed said, and the injured were taken to four hospitals.

Injuries included broken bones, cuts and bruises.

Two planes carrying a total of 52 doctors, mostly surgeons, were sent to Sohag, she added at a news conference in the province, accompanied by Madbouly, who added that a military plane would bring those needing special surgery to Cairo.

Egypt is a country plagued by fatal rail accidents widely blamed on a rail system of crumbling infrastructure, poor maintenance and mismanagement.

Official figures said there were 1,793 train accidents in 2017.