At least three people, including two children, were killed and 49 others injured when two passenger trains collided in Zagazig, northeast of Cairo, Egypt, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said that five of the injured are in critical condition. All the wounded have been transported to Al-Ahrar and Zagazig University hospitals, and “rescue operations are ongoing,” according to the ministry.
Thirty ambulances and additional medical teams were dispatched to the collision site in Zagazig, the ministry added.
The railway authority said that one of the trains involved in the crash was traveling from Zagazig to Ismailia, while the other was headed from Mansoura to Zagazig.

The Egyptian railway authority reported that the collision caused significant damage, with images from the scene showing a train car severely crumpled. Emergency responders were seen trying to assist the injured through the windows of the damaged train cars.
Train accidents are a frequent issue in Egypt due to the country’s outdated railway infrastructure and management challenges. The government has promised improvements, with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announcing in 2018 that $8.13 billion would be needed to revamp the rail network.
This incident follows a similar crash last month in Alexandria, where a train collided with a truck, resulting in two fatalities.