Cairo station fire: Train crash causes deadly blaze

[Grant]

At least 20 people have been killed and 40 injured after a train crash sparked a large fire at Cairo's main railway station, Egyptian officials say.

The train hit a buffer stop near the end of a busy platform at Ramses Station, which is in the city centre.

The collision caused the train's fuel tank to explode, setting the platform and nearby buildings alight.

The cause of the crash is not yet clear, but only hours later Transport Minister Hisham Arafat resigned.

Witnesses described seeing several severely burned bodies in the latest disaster to hit Egypt's rundown railways.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47384443

 

[Grant]

Embedded media from this media site is no longer available

 

[Gordon_R]

Strange story:

The privately owned news website al-Shorouk cited a source as saying the train had been undergoing maintenance when it started moving at speed towards the station's main building without a conductor.

I saw the headline on the BBC, but at that stage it was video only, which I didn't want to watch.

Embedded media from this media site is no longer available

The Liveleak link shows up as blank, and I can't play the media on my PC.

Edit: Boring. Waste of bandwidth...

 

[Sinbad]

Wow. Imagine SA ministers took accountability like this

 

[Grant]

Strange story:


I saw the headline on the BBC, but at that stage it was video only, which I didn't want to watch.



The Liveleak link shows up as blank, and I can't play the media on my PC.

liveleak link

**interesting
mybb seems to block the actual link, but insert it behind text and it works

 

[Gordon_R]

Always easy to blame the driver, rather than the corrupt system: https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/egypt-train-crash-investigators-say-driver-to-blame-20190228

The driver of a train that crashed in Cairo's central railway station has been arrested following the accident.

Egypt's railway system is badly in need of crucial upgrades and a fresh injection of funds.

Slight over-reaction perhaps:

The transport minister has resigned, but that still hasn't satisfied many people who are saying the president should ultimately take the blame.

Edit: More details (if less clarity) on BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47401140

The deadly fire at Cairo's main railway station on Wednesday happened because the train driver left the cabin without pulling the brakes, Egypt's public prosecutors believe.

They say a preliminary investigation indicates the driver stepped off the train to argue with a colleague.

But the driver, who has been arrested, blames corroded brakes, reports say.

 

[ponder]

Always easy to blame the driver, rather than the corrupt system: https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/egypt-train-crash-investigators-say-driver-to-blame-20190228


Slight over-reaction perhaps:



Edit: More details (if less clarity) on BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47401140

Would like to know how? Trains usually have a dead mans brake. If the engineer takes his hands of the controls or he dies from a heart attack etc the train stops. It needs positive input to continue running. Only thing I can think off is the safeties were circumvented.