The train continued for almost 1 km before it stopped, he said.
Sixteen ambulances had rushed to the scene to transfer the victims to hospitals, he said, adding that the train driver and his assistants who survived the accident were detained.
However, state-run al-Ahram newspaper website quoted the crossing workers as saying that "the warning and the red signals were broken", and adding that they attempted to use the chains for closing the track but failed as the train was coming at a high speed.
Meanwhile, the train driver and his assistants asserted the crossing was open and that they sounded dozens of warning sirens but no one responded, al-Ahram added.
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