Egypt's prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek referred to criminal court on Wednesday defendants charged with negligence leading to the deadly train collision that took place in August near Alexandria, leaving 44 people dead and 236 injured. The defendants include the conductors of the two trains as well as some of their assistants. In August, a train travelling from Cairo to Alexandria crashed into the rear of another train en route to Alexandria from Port Said. At the time of the crash, the second train was stationary at Khorshid Station, which lies on the Cairo-Alexandria line southeast of the Mediterranean city. Transport ministry officials have said that the crash was caused by a malfunction that brought one of the trains to a halt. Train accidents in Egypt are not uncommon. In 2013, a train derailed in Giza's Badrashin, killing at least 19 people. In 2012, a train collided with a school bus at a rail crossing in the town of Manfalut in Upper Egypt, killing 51 people, mostly children. The country's worst train disaster took place in 2002, when a fire swept through a passenger train, killing some 360 people. Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to develop the country's dilapidated transport network and guarantee basic railway safety standards. Egypt has recently been taking a number of measures to develop the country's shabby railway system.
