Health Ministry revises toll of train collision

A total of 22 people were killed because of the train collision that happened in Sohag on Friday, Minister of Health Hala Zayed said Saturday.

She added that the 22 dead victims included three whose remains were scattered at the site of the collision and arrived to hospitals in bags.

The minister noted at a press briefing at the cabinet building in downtown Cairo that a total of 185 people were injured in the accident.

She said that 90 of the injured were already discharged from the hospitals after receiving first aid hours after they were admitted on Friday.

Minister Zayed noted that three more injured were flown to Cairo for treatment at a state-run hospital because they were in critical conditions.

She said the discrepancy in accident fatality numbers between Friday and Saturday happened because some of the victims who lost consciousness at the site of the accident were deemed dead by locals and aid-responders who arrived at the scene a short time after the accident.

However, the same victims were given aid and retained their consciousness later, which is reflected on the number of dead victims from the accident, Zayed said.

She said the first ambulance arrived at the site of the collision five minutes only after it occurred.

The minister noted that a total of 105 ambulances rushed to the scene to offer aid to the injured and transfer those who needed hospitalisation to the hospitals.

She thanked the ordinary citizens who rushed to the site of the accident to offer help to aid and rescue workers who arrived in the scene as well.

She said the same locals raced against each other to donate blood for the victims despite the fact that we have provided the hospitals with 3,000 blood bags, Minister Zayed said.

She added that around 3,400 blood and plasma bags were already available in Sohag’s hospitals before the accident.

Zayed revealed that 116 of the injured suffered broken bones, including 49 who needed different operations, adding that 20 of the victims entered into a coma following the accident.

We have conducted operations on 11 victims so far, the minister said.

She added that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had given orders for the immediate transfer of medical teams and supplies from Cairo in case of need, noting that the president also ordered the transfer to Cairo of victims who needed urgent medical intervention.