The main rail station in Egypt's capital of Cairo was bustling on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after a train rammed a platform and burst into flames, setting people around it on fire
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2019) The main rail station in Egypt's capital of Cairo was bustling on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after a train rammed a platform and burst into flames, setting people around it on fire.Witnesses told Sputnik the locomotive sped past them before crashing into Platform 6, which caused its fuel tank to explode. At least 20 people died in the blast and around 50 were injured.
"The locomotive sped along the platform like crazy and rammed this building at full speed. There were no cars," Mohammed, a book seller who has a booth on Platform 6, said, pointing to a wrecked building on the platform's edge.
The gutted locomotive remains on the tracks. Firefighters have been dousing it with water for hours. The fate of the driver is not clear. Some witnesses claim he jumped out moments before the collision.
"He escaped certain death. He probably figured he would not make it and jumped out. He might have run away or been taken to hospital," a cafe visitor told Sputnik.
Ahmed, who was inside the Ramses train station when he heard the explosion, said he hurried to the platform and saw police and medical staff retrieving charred bodies from the rail track.
"There were quite a lot of bodies there," he added.
Those caught up in the blaze were waiting on the platform or sitting outside a cafe, porter Mustafa said. The blast ripped through the area, hitting nearby cars, bending iron poles, and shattering windows.
The train station, Egypt's main transport hub, was packed with travelers soon after the tragedy despite reported evacuation. Apart from the charred locomotive, there is heavy police presence and a dozen ambulances parked outside to remind of what happened.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli visited the train station and promised to punish those responsible. Prosecutors are working at the scene, questioning witnesses, collecting evidence and surveillance tapes. The cause of the collision is not yet known.
