Kurdistan Region offers condolences to Egypt for the victims of Sohag train collision

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani offered condolences to Egypt for the victims of a deadly train collision in Sohag governorate.

At least 32 people were killed and 165 others injured when the two trains collided in central Egypt, which has one of the largest and oldest railways in the region.

Authorities said that at 11:42 a.m. local time a train heading from Aswan to Cairo hit the rear of a train heading from Luxor to Alexandria, which was stuck on the railway line after an emergency brake was activated.

The president of the Kurdistan Region wrote on his Twitter account, “My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by today’s terrible train collision in Sohag.”

“I extend my condolences to the leadership and people of Egypt on this tragic accident,” Barzani added.

Accidents that lead to casualties have become common in Egypt, and Egyptians have long complained that successive governments fail to impose basic measures to ensure safety.

President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi offered his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement posted on his official accounts on social media, and said, "Whoever caused this painful incident" will be punished.

In the worst railway accident in Egypt, a fire consumed seven carts on an overcrowded train in 2002, killing at least 360 people.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly