Egyptian Train Crash Kills 36

At least 36 people were killed and more than 130 injured when two commuter trains collided near Cairo today.

The crash happened in the town of Qalyub, 12 miles north of the Egyptian capital.

Adly Hussein, the provincial governor, told Egyptian state television that two southbound commuter trains had collided at around 7.45am local time (0545 BST).

Television footage showed the front of one train crumpled, with carriages lying on their sides next to the track. Rescue workers were seen making their way into the wreckage to look for survivors.

The trains had been travelling from the Nile Delta cities of Mansoura and Benha.

Police said the Mansoura train had missed a stop signal while travelling at least 50mph. The driver was killed in the crash, which saw at least four of the carriages overturn.

The Nile Delta - the most densely populated part of Egypt - is where the majority of crashes on the country's troubled railway network take place.

In May, 45 people were killed when two trains crashed at a station in the Delta village of Alshat. Three months earlier, 20 died in a collision near the port city of Alexandria.

In the country's worst rail disaster, 363 people were killed when fire broke out on a train in 2002. It had been packed with people travelling to southern Egypt for Eid al-Adha, an Islamic festival marking the end of the hajj pilgrimage.