Train set on fire in Zagazig, at least 18 injured

A train running between Tanta and Zagazig was set on fire by two unidentified assailants on Thursday, the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (AMAY) reported.

The train was attacked at the Nakareya Station in Zagazig, the capital of the Sharqiya governorate. Two cars were completely destroyed, and at least 18 people were injured due to smoke inhalation and shock, according to AMAY.

Eyewitnesses reported that the assailants threw Molotov cocktails into the last two cars of the train and then fled the scene.

The conductor separated the two cars from the rest of the train to prevent further damage. Fire fighters then brought the blaze under control, and five ambulances were dispatched to treat the injured, said AMAY.

The Zagazig area, the hometown of former President Mohamed Morsi, has witnessed a high level of violence over the past year since the Islamist leader’s ouster by military mandate. In February, unknown assailants killed three police officers in Sharqiya, two of whom near Zagazig.

Train lines were also disrupted in Beni Suef on Thursday when protesters identified as Muslim Brotherhood members reportedly blocked the railroad and set fire to a train’s wheels following clashes with security forces in the village of Maymoun.

The clashes were reported sparked when police arrested nine Brotherhood residents of the village.

Security forces fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the crowd and re-opened the lines. 

Three houses in Maymoun were burned down in the clashes and three area residents were injured. They were taken to the Wasta Central Hospital to receive medical attention.

Since the January 25, 2011 revolution, Egypt’s train lines — already plagued by poor infrastructure and a series of devastating de-railings and crashes —  have been the site of numerous protests and sit-ins, leading to multiple shut-downs and catastrophic revenue losses for the national railway system.

Following Morsi's ouster in July and the deadly dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-in camps in Cairo in August, which resulted in more than 1,000 fatalities, the interim government declared a state of emergency and stopped all train service for a two-month period. Trains started running again last October, but have been subject to numerous attacks since then.