Head of Egypt's railway sacked after train accident

Head of the Egyptian Railway Authority Sayed Salem was fired on Sunday after a train accident in Egypt earlier in the day, official Ahram Online news website reported.

The incident left six people with minor injuries, according to the report.

Egypt's Transport Minister Hesham Arafat then appointed Ashraf Raslan as the new head of the railway authority.

The last major train incident happened earlier July, as 55 people were injured when a Cairo-Qena train derailed due to a signaling error.

Giza's prosecution released a statement reporting the detention of the driver, his assistant and five other railway employees, pending investigations.

Egypt witnessed a number of deadly train accidents over the past few years in which hundreds were killed and wounded.