Dozens die in Egypt train crash

At least 37 people have been killed in a collision between a train and several vehicles at a level crossing in northern Egypt, police have said.

Some 40 more people were injured in the crash near Marsa Matruh, 430km (270 miles) north-west of the capital Cairo.

A truck failed to stop at the crossing and pushed several waiting vehicles into the path of the oncoming train, security officials said.

Road accidents are frequent in Egypt,

killing about 6,000 people every year.

Many of the crashes are due to reckless driving, poor road and vehicle maintenance and lack of enforcement of traffic regulations, correspondents say.

The accident happened after a lorry ploughed into vehicles including a car and a bus waiting at the crossing, pushing them onto the tracks.

According to reports from the scene, the train careered into the vehicles seconds later.

The state news agency MENA quoted officials as saying the lorry's brakes had failed.

The force of the impact flipped two of the train's carriages over and unhitched three more, a source added.

MENA said the dead and injured had been transferred to a number of local hospitals.

The train was travelling between Matruh and Alexandria.

A series of road and rail accidents in Egypt over the past few years has triggered a public outcry over the government's handling of road and transport safety.

Two years ago, a train crash killed 58 people and injured scores more in the Nile Delta town of Qalyoub, north of Cairo.

In 2002, 360 people were killed when fire ripped through seven carriages of a crowded passenger train.