Daily Times

Pakistan has extended its condolences to Egypt, a day after 11 people were killed and 98 got injured in a train accident in the Qalyubia province, 40km north of the capital Cairo. “We convey our deepest sympathies on the tragic train accident in Egypt,” the Foreign Office said in a tweet on Monday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the government, the brotherly people of Egypt and the families of those who have lost their lives. We wish quick recovery to the injured,” it added. The accident took place after four carriages of the train, which was heading from Cairo to the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, derailed in Toukh on Sunday. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has ordered the military’s engineering authority to investigate the crash, with the driver and rail officials detained for questioning. Sunday’s incident follows three weeks after two passenger trains collided in the Sohag province of the country, killing at least 18 people and injuring 200, including children. Pakistan enjoys cordial ties with Egypt, with both countries working toward strengthening their relationship in recent months. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held talks with President El-Sisi during a two-day visit to Egypt in February this year, where he acknowledged that Egypt was an “important member” of the Muslim world, before describing it as the “gateway to Africa.”