Dozens of Children Killed After Train Collides with School Bus in Egypt
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(CAIRO) — Egyptian authorities say that barriers were not down at the site where a train collided with a school bus on its way to kindergarten class last Saturday.
Fifty-one people, nearly all of them children, were killed in the accident, while 17 others were injured.
The collision occurred in the province of Assiut about 200 miles south of Cairo.
Witnesses said that the bus was dragged for about half-a-mile with wreckage of the vehicle found beneath the train and children’s shoes and book bags scattered around the area.
Most of the dead were between the ages of 4 and 6. Three adults also died in the crash.
In addition to police investigating the worker who was on duty at the train crossing, the accident has also cost the jobs of Transportation Minister Mohammed Rashad al-Metainy and the head of the local railroad agency.
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