Train crashes into school bus in Cairo suburb, killing at least 7 people

A train rammed into a school bus carrying grade school students in a Cairo suburb on Friday, killing at least seven people, including at least three children, the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

Bus driver Ramy George died in the collision, as well as his supervisor Rasha Bayoumi and Mostafa al-Tellawy, a parent who was chaperoning the trip. The names of the deceased children have not yet been released.

At least 24 people were injured in the collision. They were transported to 10th of Ramadan Hospital, according to the newspaper.

The tragedy occurred as students from the Madina School in Tanta were taking a weekend excursion to Cairo, according to media reports. School management has been called in for investigation, as they allegedly did not acquire the necessary permits to take the students out of their governorate, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

The Egyptian Railway Authority released a statement saying train number 311 on the Ain Shams-Suez line struck the school bus as it attempted to cross the tracks at an illegal location.

Eyewitnesses told the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram that the bus was following two other vehicles that managed to cross the tracks before the collision occurred. Two passengers jumped to safety before the train struck, according to Al-Ahram.

It took more than half an hour for ambulances to arrive at the scene, eyewitnesses said.

Such tragedies have become almost commonplace in Egypt. In 2012, more than 50 people — most of them children — died when a train crashed into a school bus as it tried to cross the tracks in the Upper Egypt governorate of Assiut.

One year later, more than 25 people died in a similar incident when a train crashed into a microbus and a truck at a crossing in the Giza village of Dahshour. Analysts blame the deadly crashes on a poorly maintained rail system and the lack of a functional security system.