Feb 28, 2019
CAIRO: The fire which claimed around 30 lives at the Cairo main railway station
occurred when a train which was left off brake by the driver who went out, ran
into a buffer stop. The police now have found that the negligent driver left
the train to talk to someone outside on the adjacent lane leading to the mishap.
The driver has been arrested. He has claimed that "it would not have moved
by itself." "The brakes are corroded and the wheels are corroded," the driver
was quoted by Egypt's ON TV channel.
The accident took place at Ramses Station. The blast of the fuel tank following
the collision led to the massive fire on the station that claimed many lives.
Transport Minister Hisham Arafat resigned after Wednesday's disaster. Prime
Minister Mostafa Madbouli visited the spot. President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi extended
his condolences to the families of those who died.
"I saw a man pointing from the locomotive as it entered the platform, and screaming
'There are no brakes! There are no brakes!' before he jumped out of the locomotive,"
witness Ibrahim Hussein told Reuters news agency.
Several witnesses said they had seen fire coming out of the train's engine
before it crashed, causing an explosion and fires inside the station.
A witness said there was an explosion when the train rammed into a steel barrier,
"Everyone started running but a lot of people died after the locomotive exploded."
In Egypt, accidents due to poor safety are common. In 2002, 370 passengers
died in a train fire.
