Egyptian prosecutors find gross negligence behind train crash

Railway employees were blamed for the crash that killed 18 people in the governorate of Sohag.

Egyptian prosecutors say they found gross negligence by railway employees to be behind a deadly train crash that caused public outcry across the country, adding that drugs were allegedly involved. The March 26 crash of two passenger trains in the governorate of Sohag, about 440km (270 miles) south of Cairo, was the latest in a series of deadly railway accidents in the Arab world’s most populous country. At least 18 people died and 200 others, including children, were injured. Prosecutors last month ordered the detention of eight railway employees, including two train drivers, their assistants, the head of traffic control in neighbouring Assiut governorate, and three traffic control guards.