Dozens killed in Egypt bus crash

Around fifty people, mostly children, have been killed in a bus crash in Egypt. The accident happened in the city of Manfalut, 300 km south of the capital Cairo. It’s understood a train slammed into the vehicle as it crossed tracks with witnesses reporting that the barriers were open at the time. The country’s road and railways have a poor safety standard and this latest tragedy has led to the resignation of Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority. The Egyptian President, Mohamed Mursi, said he had decided to refer all those responsible to the Prosecutor General and would do everything in his power to speed up the investigations in order to discover the reason for the tragic accident. The bus was broken in half by the force of the impact and officials said the identification of the bodies would be difficult because of the injuries suffered by those killed. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil travelled to the scene and reiterated the president’s intention of ordering an investigation into the accident.