The second train crash in recent weeks has left many injured in Egypt early on Sunday (Oct. 13).
Local media reported that a locomotive collided with the rear of a sleeper train en-route from Aswan to Cairo, causing two train carriages to fall into the Ibrahimiya Canal in Upper Egypt.
Footage showed two rail carriages partially submerged in the watercourse.
The railway authority said in a statement that the crash occurred in the province of Minya, south of Cairo.
Additionally, the cause of the crash is being investigated.
The Health Ministry said at least 20 people were injured and taken to hospitals.
The carriages which were not affected are said to have resumed the journey towards the Egyptian capital.
In recent years, authorities announced initiatives to improve Egypt’s railways.
Last month, two passenger trains collided in Egypt’s Nile Delta, killing at least three people, two of them children.
The crash happened in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province, the country’s railway authority said in a statement. Egypt’s Health Ministry said the collision injured at least 40 others.
Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an ageing railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. In recent years, the government announced initiatives to improve its railways.
In 2018, the president estimated some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, were needed to properly overhaul the North African country’s neglected rail network.