Railway accident in Cairo Central Station

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The railway accident in Cairo's main train station on February 27, 2019 was the buffer crossing of a single locomotive in the main train station of Cairo ( Ramses train station ). 25 people died.

Starting position

The Cairo Central Station is partly a terminus . The end of the track consists of a concrete block; a buffer , the (part of) could absorb the collision energy of a colliding vehicle, does not exist. Around 10 a.m., numerous travelers were waiting for trains on the platforms belonging to track 4, 5 and 6.

A single running diesel locomotive of the Egyptian National Railways - later the vehicle involved in the accident - was maneuvered in the apron of the Cairo Central Station.

the accident

While shunting, the locomotive was slightly damaged by another locomotive flanking it , but it did not derail . The engine driver left the engine to look at the damage. He did not apply the parking brake or did so insufficiently. According to him, this was not fully functional after the accident . The locomotive started moving without a driver, accelerated so that the driver could no longer overtake it, drove into the station, and hit the concrete block at the end of platform track 6 without braking at 10:15 . The locomotive derailed. This led to an explosion or deflagration of the fuel in the tank of the locomotive.

consequences

25 people died, 47 were also injured. They were on the affected platform tracks 4, 5 and 6 or on the cross platform behind the buffer stop. Panic broke out. The locomotive caught fire and burned out. The extinguishing work took about an hour. The train traffic in the station was only briefly interrupted.

The driver of the locomotive that caused the accident, the second driver with whom he had an argument, and four other people were arrested. The Egyptian Transport Minister Hisham Arafat resigned due to the accident , but had previously set up a commission of inquiry into the accident. There has been a call from parliamentary circles for the death penalty to be extended to cases such as this, in which people die as a result of negligence. The current maximum sentence is 10 years in prison and a fine of 200 Egyptian pounds , which is the equivalent of around 10 euros .

Worth knowing

This was the third such incident on the Egyptian railroad within a few months: two years earlier in Alexandria and six months earlier in the depot at Cairo Central Station, locomotives had also set off without a driver. In both cases, however, there was no major damage.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ sda / mr: Cairo .
  2. ^ The National: Egyptian Minister resigns after deadly Cairo rail fire kills 25 .
  3. ^ Egypt Today: Locomotive that caused Ramses station fire had no driver: official .
  4. ↑ sda / mr: Cairo .
  5. ↑ faz.net of February 28, 2019: The train driver did not apply the brake .
  6. ^ How Ramses train moved without driver, crashed into platform . In: Egypt Today
  7. ↑ Al Jazeera: Egypt: Dozens killed in crash and fire at Cairo train station .
  8. ^ The National: Egyptian Minister resigns after deadly Cairo rail fire kills 25 .
  9. ↑ BBC News: Cairo station fire: Train crash causes deadly blaze ; sda / mr: Cairo .
  10. ^ The National: Egyptian Minister resigns after deadly Cairo rail fire kills 25 .
  11. ^ How Ramses train moved without driver, crashed into platform . In: Egypt Today
  12. ^ The National: Egyptian Minister resigns after deadly Cairo rail fire kills 25 .
  13. ^ Egypt MP calls for execution of negligent employees after Ramses station fire . In: Middle East Monitor of March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  14. ^ The National: Egyptian Minister resigns after deadly Cairo rail fire kills 25 .
  15. ^ Egypt MP calls for execution of negligent employees after Ramses station fire . In: Middle East Monitor of March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  16. ^ How Ramses train moved without driver, crashed into platform . In: Egypt Today

Coordinates: 30 ° 3 ′ 47 "  N , 31 ° 14 ′ 47.5"  E