CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced eight railway workers to prison terms ranging from three to seven years on Monday over a deadly train crash in October that killed 18 people, the official news agency MENA reported.
The crash happened when one train hurtled into the back of another stationary train, and the accident led to the resignation of then transport minister Mohamed Mansour.
The trains collided near Girzah, close to the town of Al-Ayyat, around 40 kilometers south of Cairo.
The court, held at the site of the accident, found the defendants guilty of manslaughter and negligence.
It sentenced the driver of the stationary train, which had stopped after hitting a buffalo, to seven years. A blood sample given by its driver contained traces of hashish, Egyptian officials said after the crash.
The driver of the other train received a five-year sentence. The assistant drivers and a signalman were among the others sentenced.
Mohamed Mansour was the second transport minister to step down because of a train crash. A predecessor quit after an accident in 2002 killed 361 people. -AFP
