Trains Collide Near Cairo, Killing 4

Middle East

Middle East|Train Wreck in Egypt Kills at Least 7 and Injures 125

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/08/world/middleeast/egypt-train-collision-al-ayyat-district.html

Train Wreck in Egypt Kills at Least 7 and Injures 125

The crash between two passenger trains was the latest in a history of deadly rail accidents in Egypt, despite billions spent modernizing the network.

*At the site of a train collision south of Cairo on Sunday.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*

By Euan Ward

Nov. 8, 2026Updated 6:03 p.m. ET

At least seven people were killed and 125 injured on Sunday when two passenger trains crashed south of Cairo, the authorities said, renewing scrutiny of a beleaguered rail system that the Egyptian government has spent billions of dollars trying to modernize.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, who has made infrastructure spending a centerpiece of his rule, said he had ordered an investigation into the deadly crash. He added that anyone found negligent should be held accountable.

“I am closely following the aftermath of the train collision,” he said in a statement on social media, offering his “sincere condolences” to the families of those killed.

The crash, which derailed several cars, occurred between Kafr Ammar and al-Riqqa in the al-Ayyat district when one train hit the rear of the other, according to Egypt’s transport ministry. Emergency crews were working to clear the wreckage, according to the ministry, and dozens of ambulances were sent to the site to transport the injured.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health; more than 70 of the injured have since been released. Many suffered bruising and abrasions, while others were being treated for various fractures, the ministry said, expressing its condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

Egypt’s rail network has long struggled with aging infrastructure and weak oversight. The deadly collision was the latest in a string of railway disasters in al-Ayyat, a largely rural district south of Cairo, the capital.

More than 350 people were killed in al-Ayyat in 2002 — Egypt’s deadliest rail disaster — when fire tore through an overcrowded train carrying passengers south for Eid al-Adha, one of the most important holidays in the Muslim calendar.

In 2009, a train struck the rear of a stalled train there, killing at least 25 people. Five more were killed in a derailment in al-Ayyat in 2016. In September of this year, two freight trains collided, injuring two crew members.

Egypt operates one of the world’s oldest rail systems, carrying between 1.1 million and 1.2 million passengers daily, according to state figures. For millions of Egyptians, rail travel provides an essential and relatively inexpensive link to the capital.

Railway officials say the state has invested about 366 billion Egyptian pounds (around $6.5 billion) in recent years as part of rehabilitation efforts.

Ephrat Livni contributed reporting.

Euan Ward is a Times reporter covering Lebanon and Syria. He is based in Beirut.

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 9, 2026, Section A, Page 9 of the New York edition with the headline: At Least Seven Are Killed After Trains Crash in Egypt. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe