The Latest: Egypt: Death toll at Cairo train station at 20
CAIRO (AP) — The Latest on the deadly fire at the Egyptian capital’s main train station (all times local):
8:45 p.m.
Egypt’s prosecutor general says an investigation has determined that the deadly locomotive accident in Cairo’s main train station was triggered by a brawl between two train conductors.
Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek said the conductor of the railcar that rammed into a station barrier Wednesday and caused a huge explosion and fire had left the vehicle without putting on its brakes.
He said the driver left to fight with another conductor who had blocked his way with the railcar he was driving.
“The driver left the railcar without taking any measures to brake it,” Sadek said in a statement.
Health officials say at least 25 people were killed and dozens more injured in the crash and ensuing fire.
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4:15 p.m.
Egypt’s Transportation Minister has resigned following a locomotive crash and resulting fire that killed more than two dozen people.
In a statement released by the Cabinet office, Hisham Arafat’s resignation was announced Wednesday following the single railcar crash at Cairo’s main train station. The crash caused a fuel tank explosion and huge fire, leaving at least 25 people dead.
Railway officials said the single railcar was traveling too fast when it collided head-on with the barrier. At least 47 people were also injured.
The explosion and fire blasted through people on the platform in the busy Ramses Station in downtown Cairo. A surveillance video showed the moment of impact when the car barreled past men and women walking by who are then engulfed in flames and smoke.
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12:40 p.m.
An Egyptian medical official says the death toll from a train fire in Cairo’s central railway station has risen to 25.
Mohammed Said, the head of the Cairo Railroad hospital, says the death toll is expected to rise further following the blaze. He added that at least 47 people were injured.
Railway authorities say a railcar rammed into a barrier inside the station causing an explosion of the fuel tank and triggering a huge blaze that engulfed that part of the station.
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11:55 a.m.
Egypt has raised the casualty toll from a major fire that erupted in Cairo’s central train station, saying there are 20 dead and more than 40 injured so far.
The country’s general prosecutor has ordered investigation. The prosecutor, Nabil Sadek, sent a team of investigators to the Ramsis train station in downtown Cairo, where the huge blaze was still underway.
Railway authorities said earlier that the train crashed into the station following an explosion of its fuel tank.
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11 a.m.
An Egyptian medical official says 10 people have been killed and 22 injured when a major fire erupted at the main train station in Cairo.
Mohammed Said, the head of the Cairo Railroad hospital, says the death toll is expected to rise further following the blaze on Wednesday.
The fire is said to have been triggered by an explosion of a fuel tank on a speeding train that was heading into the Ramsis station in downtown Cairo.
Heavy black smoke is rising into the sky at the scene.
The daily Al-Ahram says the train crashed and the fuel tank exploded, causing the fire, but details were still not confirmed.
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