CAIRO - As Egypt marked the eve of Islam‘s biggest feast on Thursday, the country mourned the death of 370 citizens killed in the worst disaster in more than 150 years of Egyptian railway history. Eid al-Adha, normally a joyous celebration, was shrouded in grief after Wednesday‘s tragedy, in which fire ripped through seven carriages of a crowded train carrying many Egyptians to their families for the holiday. Investigations into the cause of the disaster are under way. Most of the bodies pulled from the wreckage near al-Ayatt, about 70 km south of the capital, were charred beyond recognition. Some were trapped behind window-grilles or crowded near exits. Only a few passengers managed to jump from windows and doors to escape the flames and smoke. Sources at hospitals, the local ambulance service and the public prosecutor‘s office — which is leading investigations into the incident — put the final death toll at 370.

Ahmed Abdulaziz, an undersecretary at the Health Ministry, said recovery work had ended just before sunset, adding that officials did not expect to find any more bodies.

Security sources said investigations into the accident resumed on Thursday, even though work in the rest of Egypt was halted as scheduled for the several-day holiday. The sources said authorities probed whether sufficient safety precautions were in place. Initial investigations showed the fire began when a passenger tried to light a small gas stove. Egyptians often use portable stoves to brew their own tea and coffee on board. Once the fire broke out, the wind blowing through the open windows fanned the flames. The public prosecutor‘s office said that survivors and witnesses had also suggested an electrical short circuit might be to blame. Egyptian officials on Wednesday defended the state railways, saying the train had no technical problems and had been equipped with safety equipment.

The seven burnt-out carriages were removed from the tracks late on Wednesday to a nearby warehouse, and traffic on Egypt‘s only railway link between Cairo and Upper Egypt resumed. All the dead were thought to be Egyptian. Witnesses said the train had been overcrowded with people heading for the countryside to spend Eid al-Adha with families. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, commemorates God‘s gift of a ram to Abraham as a substitute sacrifice for his son — a central story in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Foreign tourists frequently travel on trains to visit ancient sites in the southern cities of Aswan and Luxor, but tend to use air-conditioned first-class or sleeper trains. This train was an old, slow-moving model used mostly by poor Egyptians. Passengers are often packed into cramped compartments. In some very basic trains, people take livestock such as chickens or geese into the carriages. Social Affairs Minister Amina el-Gindy said the government would pay 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($650) in emergency assistance to the families of the dead, and 1,000 pounds to the injured.

Reuters