AN Egyptian train conductor who forced two poor street vendors without tickets to jump off a moving train, leading to the death of one of the youths, has been arrested, authorities said yesterday.

The incident, which took place on Monday in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, has stirred public outrage, with footage of an ensuing argument between the conductor and other passengers on the train going viral.

There have also been calls on social media for the resignation of Egypt’s Transportation Minister Kamel el-Wazir. The other youth who was forced to jump off the train was injured.

The railway authorities said the conductor had demanded the youths “pay tickets but they refused,” after which he opened a carriage door for them to jump out.

The conductor remains in custody pending an investigation.

Egypt’s railway system has a history of badly maintained equipment and poor management. The latest official figures show that 1,793 train accidents took place across the country in 2017.

The deadliest train crash occurred in 2002, when over 300 people died after a fire erupted on a speeding train traveling from Cairo to southern Egypt. In February, at least 25 people were killed when an unmanned locomotive slammed into a barrier inside a busy Cairo station.

That accident led to the resignation of Transportation Minister Hisham Arafar and the appointment of el-Waizir, a career army officer.

Also yesterday, at least four people were killed and four others were injured when a microbus crashed into a train in the southern city of Luxor, the railway authorities said.

(SD-Agencies)