epa03536472 Rescue workers lift a carraige transporting soldiers that crashed in the Giza neighbourhood of Badrashin, about 40 km west of Cairo, Egypt, 15 January 2013. Reports state that the crash killed 17 people and injured 105, the head of the Ambulance Authority told the ONTV channel. One carriage derailed and hit a freight train, according to Hussein Zakareya, chief of Egypt’s Railway Authority. The train was returning to the capital from Upper Egypt with more than 1,300 conscripts on board. EPA/KHALED ELFIQI *** Local Caption *** 03536472.jpg
At least 19 people died and more than 100 were injured when two railroad passenger cars derailed just south of Cairo after midnight, health officials said. Khaled Elfiqi / EPA
The state-owned Ahram website reported that the 12-carriage train was carrying 1,328 conscripted Egyptian soldiers headed north from Assiut to Cairo. Khaled Elfiqi / EPA
The incident comes less than two weeks after a new transportation minister was appointed to overhaul the rail system, and just two months after a deadly collision between a train and school bus. Khaled Desouki / AFP Photo
Egyptian prime minister Hisham Qandil addresses reporters at the scene of the crash. President Mohammed Morsi named a new transportation minister on January 6 who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in an effort to improve railway safety. Khaled Desouki???
An injured soldier lies on a stretcher at a hospital. The accident is the latest in a string of transport disasters in Egypt. Khaled Desouki / AFP Photo
The official Mena news agency quoted health ministry officials who said that the 107 wounded were being treated in hospitals near the site of the accident in Giza's Badrasheen neighborhood. They said the number of dead is expected to rise. Khaled Desouki ???
Accidents due to negligence regularly killed scores over the three-decade rule of Hosni Mubarak. Widespread corruption has also been blamed for the underfunding of government services, particularly in poor provinces outside Cairo. Amr Nabil / AP Photo
In pictures: Egypt train crash leaves at least 19 dead