Al Ayatt | Wednesday
At least 200 people were killed early on Wednesday in a fire on a train south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, according to a toll given by firefighters.
Firefighters and an AFP reporter counted 123 bodies lying at the scene of the accident, around 70 kilometres south of Cairo.
Firefighters said so far they had pulled 108 bodies, many burned beyond recognition, from the carriages and recovered another 15, who had jumped from the windows of the moving train, lying by the tracks.
The train caught fire at 2 am (midnight GMT) near the town of Al Ayatt but continued to travel for several kilometres, forcing passengers to jump out of the windows, witnesses told police.
The train was packed with people heading to their homes in villages and towns in southern Egypt for the Bairam holiday, which celebrates the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Seven carriages of the train were burnt. – AFP