A passenger train caught fire as it headed south from Cairo early Wednesday, killing at least 370 people and trapping many more, police said.
According to AP, police said the fire broke out just after midnight on the daily train that travels from Cairo to southern Egypt. Rescuers were battling flames Wednesday morning. In addition to the dead, scores of people were being treated for injuries, police stated.
Some of the dead jumped from the train as it was moving and were killed. Other bodies were recovered inside the train.
According to the BBC, there is speculation that the fire was caused either by a short circuit or an explosion of a gas canister used by passengers heating food on the train.
The train was full of people returning to their villages and hometowns in southern Egypt for the five-day Bairam festival which celebrates the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.(Albawaba.com)
