At least 32 killed, 66 wounded in Egypt train collision

At least 32 people died and 66 injured after two trains collided in southern Egypt, the health ministry said on Thursday. 

Three carriages derailed as a result of the accident in the province of Sohag, the health ministry and a local official confirmed. 

The statement by the health ministry said "32 people were killed and 66 injured" and sent to the hospital. 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday called for "deterrent punishment" for those responsible for the collision of two passenger trains. 

"Anyone who caused this painful accident through negligence or corruption, or anything similar, must receive a deterrent punishment without exception or delay," he said in a tweet.

Several people were seen gathered around an overturned carriage of one of the trains. 

News agency AFP reported springs and twisted metal jutted out from another carriage. 

Egypt's rail authority said that some passengers had "activated emergency brakes in several carriages" which led to the accident. 

In recent years, several train accidents have occurred in Egypt, something that tells about the nation's poor railway infrastructure.