Egyptian prosecutors have summoned dozens of railway officials for questioning, from the chief executive to safety personnel, over last week’s deadly blast and fire at Cairo’s main train station.
The scale and pace of the investigation reflect the attention paid by Egypt's leadership to the February 27 accident in which at least 22 people died, and public outrage over the negligence behind it.
Egyptians from all walks of life have since last Wednesday discussed how this nation of 100 million should end its culture of negligence.
They also want to know whether more should have been invested to modernise a railway network used by an estimated 300 million people a year.
“The real crime is inside us. Negligence is mightier than terrorism or the Muslim Brotherhood,” said pro-government talk show host Amr Adeeb. “The accident is the result of negligence accumulated over 50 years.”
The government of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is spending billions to overhaul infrastructure and build a network of roads.
It is also building new cities, including a capital in the desert east of Cairo.
Mr El Sisi said about $14 billion (Dh51.4bn) was needed to modernise the railways, but that sum would not be easy to recoup if the state continued to heavily subsidise train fares.
The government said that the accident occurred when the driver of an engine car loaded with 6,000 litres of diesel left the vehicle to argue with another driver over a soft collision.
With its engine running, the car broke free and sped to the heart of the station at an estimated speed of 120kph before slamming into barriers at the end of a platform, prosecutors said.
An explosion and fire ripped through the station and a building just beyond the platform was badly damaged.
The government was quick to show its concern and resolve to take measures to stop the loss of life in train accidents.
The presidential spokesman has repeated that Mr El Sisi was discussing the progress of the investigation with top officials and following up on the medical care given to the dozens of injured.
He has not spoken publicly about the accident since it happened, when he ordered a thorough investigation and proper medical care for the injured.
Egypt’s chief prosecutor, meanwhile, said six people, including the two drivers, were detained on charges of manslaughter and damaging public property.
He said drugs tests for all six came back negative except for the assistant of the driver who abandoned his vehicle.
But the investigation has not been restricted to determining the criminal liability of the railway employees. Prosecutors have summoned 38 members of staff for questioning, along with the railway’s chief executive.
Meanwhile, a team of prosecutors is looking into the inner workings of the station to determine the causes behind its failures.
Official figures show that hundreds of railway-related accidents take place every year, but only deadly or major ones are publicised.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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RESULTS
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Rajeh, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi (trainer)
6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Get Back Goldie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
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8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Hot Rod Charlie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
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Winner: Withering, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
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Winner: Creative Flair, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How to avoid crypto fraud
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
