50 children killed in Egypt school bus-train collision

CAIRO: The death toll of the bus-train accident in a city south of Cairo has reached fifty, mostly children.

The tragic incident took place when a train slammed into a school bus as it crossed tracks on Saturday, state media and officials said.

All but two of the dead were children, aged around four to eight, said a senior security official in Assiut, near the site. One woman and the bus driver also died, he added. The bus was broken in half by the force of the crash. Blood was spattered on the front of the engine and school bags and textbooks, some bloodstained, were strewn around. Witnesses said barriers at the rail crossing were open when the train hit the bus. Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority resigned, and President Mohamed Mursi said those responsible would be held to account. State media reported that as well as 50 dead, 15 or more people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children. Agencies

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