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Egypt: Conflicting News on Casualties in Cairo Train Crash

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Egypt, Breaking News, Disaster, Media & Journalism

Information remains sketchy about the number of casualties from a train crash in a Cairo suburb earlier today. Reports on mainstream media ranged from deaths and injuries [1] – to no deaths and just injuries [2], in the accident where a passenger train derailed and caught fire.

On Twitter, journalists competed on breaking the news.

Al Jazeera English Cairo correspondent Sherine Tadros tweeted:

@SherineT [3]: Casualties (no number) at train crash site in cairo suburb. Accident happened after trains collided and one derailed #Egypt

Sky News’ Tim Marshall added:

@Skytwitius [4]: We are hearing at least 3 dead and dozens injured in Cairo train crash on line towards Giza.

And long-time Middle East resident Angus Blair pointed fingers:

@AngusBlair1 [5]: The tragic train crash outside #Cairo indicates how much needs to be done to upgrade #Egypt's aged & underinvested railways

Meanwhile, Swedish Broadcasting foreign news journalist JoMa Sommarstrom tweeted from the hospital:

@ekmathia [6]: At the hospital, 17 injured in train crash #Cairo

And Sherif Aboualam jokes [ar]:

خروج قطار القاهرة – سوهاج عن مساره بالبدرشين وأنباء عن سقوط ضحايا، فاضل غرق عبارة وماتش جزائر ونبقى عيشنا ال30 سنة بتوع مبارك في أسبوعين
@sherifaboalam [7]: The Cairo-Souhag train is derailed and news of casualties. What is left is a ferry drowning and a match against Algeria and we would have lived Mubarak's 30 years in two weeks.

Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi was elected as the new president of Egypt last month. He replaces Hosni Mubarak, whose 32-year reign ended with a popular revolution against him and his regime.

The Twitter user is referring to the 2006 drowning of a ferry [8] in the Red Sea, which killed more than 1,000 people, and the Algeria-Egypt qualifying match [9]for the World Cup, which turned into a face off and diplomatic spat between the two countries in 2009.