Manfalut railway accident
The railway accident in Manfalut was the collision of a school bus and a train of the Egyptian State Railways on a level crossing in Manfalut on November 17, 2012. More than 50 people died.
Starting position
The school bus was occupied by 70 children between the ages of four and six when it crossed a level crossing with barriers in Manfalut, about 350 km south of Cairo , around 7 a.m.
the accident
According to eyewitness reports, the level crossing barriers were not closed and the gatekeeper was sleeping. At the same moment that the bus was entering the intersection area, it was hit by a locomotive of a train that was also crossing the intersection. She tore the bus in two and dragged it along for about a kilometer.
consequences
At least 50 children and the bus driver died as a result of the collision. 17 people were also injured. The high number of deaths is also attributed to the hesitant deployment of the rescue workers: the police only arrived at the scene of the accident two hours after the accident, the first ambulance when most of the children had already died.
This inability of the state to respond adequately to such a catastrophe initially led to a spontaneous demonstration at the scene of the accident by the families of the victims and their friends demanding that those responsible resign. The head of the state railway and the Egyptian transport minister, Mohamed Rashad Al Matini , resigned, the Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi , pleaded that those responsible should be held accountable. The gatekeeper was arrested .
swell
- BBC News v. November 17, 2012: Egypt bus crash kills 50 children near Manfalut .
- Al Jazeera v. November 17, 2012: Scores of schoolchildren who crash in Egypt .
- ahramonline v. November 17, 2012: Protesters demand Assiut governor resign over fatal bus-train collision .
- The New York Times v. November 17, 2012: Dozens Killed, Mostly Children, in Egypt Crash (based on a report from Reuters ).
- Haaretz v. November 18, 2012: Train slams into school bus in Egypt, killing 48 children, injuring 27 others .
- Mohamed Fadel Fahmy: Bus, train crash in Egypt kills 51 - mostly children ( Memento from November 19, 2012 on WebCite ). In: CNN v. November 18, 2012.
Coordinates: 27 ° 18 ′ 36.8 ″ N , 30 ° 57 ′ 43.6 ″ E