Egypt’s railway authority head resigns after fatal crash

From Reuters video

CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) – The head of Egypt’s railway authority resigned Sunday after 41 people were killed in a train crash, the prime minister’s office said.

A statement said that Transportation Minister Hisham Arafat had accepted the resignation of Medhat Shousha.

Arafat “affirmed the investigations are ongoing to reveal the causes of the trains’ collision,” according to the statement.

Egypt’s latest train disaster saw two trains collide on the Cairo-Alexandria mainline on Friday, leading to the deaths of 41 people and injuring scores more.

It was the deadliest train accident in the North African country since a train plowed into a bus carrying schoolchildren in November 2012, killing 47 people.

Also on Sunday, prosecutors ordered the detention of four people, including the drivers of the two trains, according to a statement.

Prosecutors also called in 10 other officials for questioning over the crash (Agence France-Presse).