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At least 15 injured in Cairo train crash

Arab World Materials 17 July 2012 23:12 (UTC +04:00)

At least 15 people were injured when a passenger train crashed with another train and derailed in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Tuesday, security sources and medics told dpa.

No one was killed in the crash in the suburb of Badrashein, the head of the national railways Hany Higab said on state television. "It is a very minor accident," Transport Minister Galal Mostafa al-Said told the state-run Nile News television.

The train was travelling from the southern city of Sohag to central Cairo at the time of the crash. It was not clear whether the train into which it collided had been stationary.

"Few carriages from the train derailed because of some barriers put on the rails by some people," al-Said said, adding that authorities have launched an investigation.

The accident caused disruption to rail services to and from the main train station in Cairo. Egypt's overall poor rail safety record and poorly maintained equipment have led to numerous fatal accidents in the past.

In 2009, around 25 people were killed and dozens injured when a a train collided with another south of Cairo.

The worst rail disaster was in February 2002 when a train heading to southern Egypt caught fire killing more than 360 people.

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