Egypt Bus Loaded With Children Hit by Train; 57 Killed
A bus carrying schoolchildren on a holiday outing was struck by a train and ripped apart Friday in a disaster that killed 57 people and injured 58, authorities reported.
They said most of the victims were around 10 years old.
A senior police officer said 50 children, six teachers and the bus driver perished in the accident on Cairo’s northeastern outskirts, about three miles from the Cairo airport.
The officer said another 58 people, almost all children, were injured and taken to two hospitals in nearby Heliopolis. Many were seriously hurt and in surgery, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The train, coming from Suez to Cairo, crashed into the bus as it crossed the one-way track,” the officer said.
“The impact split the bus in two. Half of the crumpled bus was thrown to the right of the track, and the other half stuck to the train’s engine until it came to a halt.”
The officer said the crossing was unmarked and that the train’s engineer and fireman had left the scene of the accident.
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