Relatives were allowed into a central Cairo morgue one or two at a time to try to identify the charred bodies. Ambulances waited outside to ferry identified corpses home. But the final resting place for many bodies may be an anonymous mass grave. Abdul Sabbour Gad Taher, who went there searching for his brother-in-law, said: "There are no lists of names. When I looked at the bodies in the morgue they were unrecognizable, all charred, most with no legs, no arms, no head." The train kept rolling for several kilometers after the fire broke out, the wind fanning the flames. Officials have said passengers using a gas stove may have started the blaze.
Some travelers were trapped behind window grilles. Only a few managed to jump from windows and doors to escape the inferno near Al-Ayat, about 44 miles South of Cairo. The exact death toll is still unclear. Minister of Rural Development Mustafa Abdel Qader said the figure had reached 373. The prosecutor's office in the district of Giza, where the accident occurred, said 361 had died. The official MENA news agency said only 170 bodies had been identified. Families have until tomorrow to inspect the bodies.
The head of Al-Azhar issued an Islamic ruling (fatwa) that the victims of the train accident should be considered martyrs, so there is no need to wash their bodies before burial. The Id Al-Adha holiday, normally a joyous celebration, was shrouded in grief after the worst disaster in more than 150 years of Egyptian rail history. The train was carrying many people home to their families for the holiday.
Security sources said the authorities would check whether necessary safety precautions were in place. They would question the driver, safety and maintenance personnel, as well as employees who handled gas cylinders in the buffet car and elsewhere on the train. Officials defend the state railways, saying the train met technical requirements. Initial investigations cast suspicion on the portable gas stoves Egyptians use to brew tea and coffee. The public prosecutor's office said that survivors and witnesses had also suggested a short circuit might be to blame. The seven burned-out carriages were removed from the tracks to a nearby warehouse late on the 19th and traffic on Egypt's only rail link between Cairo and Upper Egypt resumed.
All the dead are thought to be Egyptian. Prince Al-Waleed ibn Talal told MENA he would donate 10,000 Egyptian pounds to the family of each deceased passenger.
