Ayyat railway accident
In the Ayyat railway accident on February 20, 2002, after a gas container exploded, half of a train of the Egyptian State Railways burned down , killing at least 383 people and injuring an unknown number. This was the worst railway accident in the history of Egypt .
Starting position
The train was traveling from Cairo to Luxor in eleven cars , with the rear part of the train consisting of 3rd class cars . These officially had a capacity for 150 passengers each , but were overstaffed. They are said to have been 100% overcrowded because of the upcoming Islamic Festival of Sacrifice . The windows of the vehicles were barred.
the accident
Around 2 a.m., a gas cylinder exploded in the fifth car . Since it is customary for travelers in Egypt to prepare hot drinks with the help of gas bottles while traveling by train, it is said to have been such a privately carried gas bottle. According to other sources, it should have been a defective electrical line that started the fire . The exact sequence of the triggering event could not be clarified in retrospect. The fire spread very quickly to the rear of the train due to the wind and the open windows. Immediately the power and the lights on the train went out. Seven cars burned out completely. Since there was neither a means of communication between the engine driver and the train nor a functioning emergency brake , the engine driver did not notice immediately after the fire broke out that the train he was driving was on fire. Only after 7 km, in the train station in Al Ayyat, about 50 km south of Cairo, did he bring him to a stop.
consequences
According to official information, there are said to have been 383 deaths, including at least 44 travelers who jumped off the moving train. But there was no way to determine the exact number of passengers on the train. In view of the overcrowding of the train and the course of the accident, the number of victims appears to be relatively low and the suspicion was expressed that this was a political figure so as not to damage the reputation of the Egyptian government in the face of the disaster. The Egyptian Transport Minister Ibrahim El-Demeiri had to resign the following month because of the accident.
Web links
- BBC: Stove blamed for Egypt train inferno from February 20, 2002 - with photos.
- CNN: Horror on Egypt fire train . Report on the accident on February 20, 2002.
- CNN: Survivors tell of rail inferno . Report on the accident on February 20, 2002.
- CNN video about the accident
Individual evidence
- ↑ BBC : Stove blamed .
- ^ CNN: Survivors .
- ↑ Short circuit claimed 373 deaths. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 4/2002, ISSN 1421-2811 , p. 194.
- ↑ BBC : Stove blamed .
- ↑ CNN: Horror .
- ↑ BBC : Stove blamed .
Coordinates: 29 ° 37 '12.2 " N , 31 ° 15' 20.4" E