Egypt To Probe Resigned Transport Minister Over School Bus Tragedy

Egypt’s Prosecutor General Abdel- Meguid Mahmoud ordered an investigation with the resigned transportation minister over a deadly collision between a train and a school bus, official news agency MENA reported on Saturday.

Mohamed Rashad al-Matini, Minister of Transportation, has submitted resignation earlier the same day to President Morsi, and Morsi accepted it.

Prosecutor Mahmoud has also ordered to notify the former and incumbent head of the railway authority and involved deputies of the authority’s chairman, within a investigation with all of them late Saturday in General Prosecution.

He also imposed a travel ban on all aforementioned until the probe into the train crash is over.

The crash, which resulted in more than 50 people killed and 17 injured, took place in Asyut Governorate around 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). Yahya Kishk, Governor of Asyut, and several senior officials arrived at the scene immediately afterwards and called to form an investigation committee.

Earlier this month, two trains collided with each other in Faiyum Governorate, 85 km south of the capital Cairo, leaving at least four Egyptians dead and 30 others injured.

The worst accident in Egypt’s 150-year history of railway was caused by a fire in February 2002, leaving more than 300 people killed.

Xinhuanet