In Egypt, at least 49 people have died, and more than 130 are injured, after a two-train collision near the Egyptian city Alexandria occurred on Friday. DNA tests have been ordered to identify bodies. Officials said a railroad switching error may have caused the accident. President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has urged the government to accelerate the development of the country's railway network to avoid deadly train crashes. Our correspondent Adel EL Mahrouky has more.

 

Rescuers have stayed up all night looking for casualties and clearing the railroad. Their bigger mission was to lift the debris that has paralyzed trains flow in northern Egypt, the government had to provide bus transportation as replacement for stranded passengers. Residents of Khorshid, where the collision happened, have also stayed up all night. 

 

UM ABDALLAH KHORSHID RESIDENT "I was planting in the field, when the train stopped, then the second train came, it was like a bomb. We kept on screaming so that the whole town would come to help. Dead bodies were everywhere. One woman lost two children in that crash. We brought our trucks to transport the victims to hospital. If we had waited for the ambulance more people would have died.  The ambulances came hours later. It was a black day. "Egypt's presidential office has sent EL Sisi's condolences to the relatives of the victims. The government announced an initial compensation of 2,800$ for the families of the deceased. A horrific number of train accidents have been reported by the state's statistics agency. 1249 last year alone. 

 

REDA AHMED WITNESS (Arabic, male, need dubbing) "I wanted to help because when the next train crash happens, my father, mother or brothers could be in it. We help so that God could help us when it's our turn in such hard times. There was a young girl just as old as my little daughter, the train fell on her left arm. Her father wanted a knife to cut her arm off to save her. Miraculously we all managed to lift the cart off her. Residents of this town were the first to help. " Egypt Railroads was established in 1854, it's one of the world's oldest. It stretches for more than 9500 Km. It transports 500 Million passengers annually and 6Mn tons of goods across the country. The infrastructure has been decaying for decades. Train accident are quite common, however they are not usually as deadly as Khorshid's collision. The deadliest was 2002 when more than 350 died in a train fire. 

 

ADEL EL MAHROUKY Whenever a tragic railroad accident occurs in this country, Egyptians hope that it would be the last. In the past decades several transportation ministers have been sacked after similar incidents, yet Egypt remains to have poor safety records in its railroad network. Khorshid's collision is yet another reminder that the system needs urgent and comprehensive restructuring. AMA CGTN CA.