Three killed in Egypt passenger train collision

Three people were killed and scores injured in a collision between two passenger trains in Zagazig, north of Cairo, Egypt's Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The collision late on Saturday was the latest in a series of fatal accidents to hit Egypt's extensive rail network, which has been beset by obsolete infrastructure and mismanagement.

The ministry said 49 people were injured in the crash, which happened 80km north of Cairo. Forty-four of the injured were in stable condition and expected to be released from hospital. The remaining five were in unstable condition.

The railway authority said one of the trains was heading from Zagazig to Ismailia on the Suez Canal, while the other was on its way from the city of Mansoura on the Mediterranean to Zagazig in the Nile Delta.

State-owned newspaper Al-Ahram said two children were among the dead.

Egypt's 106 million people depend heavily on rail transport but the network, although one of the largest on the African continent, has repeatedly suffered fatal accidents. Trains in Egypt are involved in hundreds of accidents a year, many of them too minor to be reported.

Last year, four people were killed and dozens injured after a train derailed while travelling from Ramses station in the Egyptian capital to the city of Menouf in the Nile Delta. Other train accidents in March and April last year killed more than 40 and injured hundreds.

In 2021, two accidents within less than a month killed more than 40 people.

Egypt has been working for years to develop its transport network, modernise trains and develop railway lines in a programme worth billions of dollars.

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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?

George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.

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Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds

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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”