At least 50 students are killed when a
train slams into their bus in Manfalut
city , state media says.
A speeding train has crashed into a
bus carrying children to their
kindergarten in southern Egypt , killing
at least 50 and wounding 17.
There were about 60 children
between four and six years old on the
bus when the crash occurred on
Saturday as the bus crossed tracks
near a village in Manfaloot district in
the southern province of Assiut.
" There are several deaths and injuries
among the pupils . They are being
counted and taken to hospitals ,"
Mamdouh al -Weshahi , a senior Health
Ministry official, was quoted as saying.
Al Jazeera' s Sherine Tadros , reporting
from Cairo , said: " The severity of the
wreckage was so bad that only 22
bodies or so came out in full and the
rest are in [pieces ]."
" That is why it 's difficult for the
rescuers to operate in the area ," she
said.
Books, school bags and socks
belonging to children were strewn
along the tracks near the mangled
bus. Parents of the missing wailed as
they looked for signs of their children
One witness said the train pushed the
bus along the tracks for nearly a
kilometre.
Two hospital officials said the
wounded were being treated in two
different facilities, many with severed
limbs .
An Egyptian official said it appeared
that the railroad crossing was not
closed as the train sped towards it . He
was speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was not
authorised to talk to the media .
President Mohamed Morsi has
ordered the prime minister , the
ministers of defence and health and
the governor of Assiut " to offer all the
assistance to the families of the
victims ", the MENA news agency said.
Transport Minister Rashad al -Metini
and the head of the Egyptian Railway
Authority have already resigned in the
wake of the accident, state media
reported .
Egypt 's railway system has a poor
safety record , mostly blamed on badly
maintained equipment , poor
management and reckless driving .
Aljazeera
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