Egypt’s Brotherhood Calls For Railway Development Plan

The Muslim Brotherhood has called for an investigation into the Badrashin train accident and for a plan to prevent similar accidents occuring in the future.

“All state bodies should cooperate in a thorough investigation into the causes of the accident. It must identify those responsible and hold them accountable,” the Islamist group said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Brotherhood also asked officials to develop a clear plan to prevent such accidents occurring again.

Transport Minister Hatem Abdel-Latif, a member of Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, was appointed to the position in a recent cabinet reshuffle. He was formerly professor of planning and transport at Ain Shams University.

Upon assuming office in early January, Abdel-Latif said the government was dedicated “to protecting the lives of the Egyptian people” and aimed to solve public transport problems, especially on the railways.

Abdel-Latif was also the Brotherhood’s candidate for the ministry in July.

Galal Mostafa El-Saeed was appointed to the position but resigned after November’s Assiut train-bus crash which killed around 53 people, including 49 children.

Eight out of 35 ministers in Prime Minister Hisham Qandil’s government are members of the Brotherhood.

These include Finance Minister El-Morsi El-Sayed, Minister of Supply Bassem Kamel, Housing Minister Tarek Wafik and Local Development Minister Mohamed Beshr.

In the statement, the Brotherhood extended its condolences to the families of the “martyrs and those injured in the tragic Badrashin accident, and to all Egyptian people.”

Ahram