At least 20 people have been killed and 50 injured when a train smashed into a barrier at Cairo's main train station, causing an explosion and a fire, state television and witnesses said.
Transport Minister Hisham Arafat resigned after the incident and there are reports that authorities have arrested the train driver.
Policemen stand guard in front of a damaged train. Source: AAP
Footage circulating on social media froma security camera inside the Ramses station showed the train failing to stop as it arrived at platform six, smashing through the buffers and a metal end railing and exploding into a huge ball of fire.
Firefighters work at the scene. Source: AAP
Passengers carrying luggage ran for their lives as the fire spread, and several people were running covered in flames, witnesses said.
The fire sent black smoke billowing above Ramses station in the centre of the Egyptian capital.
Inside the station, the train's blackened engine could be seen tilted to one side next to a platform.
Security sources said there was no indication that the crash was deliberate.
People gather outside Ramsis train station following the fire. Source: AAP
"I saw a man pointing from the locomotive as it entered the platform, and screaming 'There are no brakes, there are no brakes' before he jumped out of the locomotive. And I don't know what happened to him," eyewitness Ibrahim Hussein said.
Bystander Mina Ghaly added: "I was standing on the platform and I saw the train speed into the barrier ... Everyone started running but a lot of people died after the locomotive exploded.
"I saw at least nine corpses lying on the ground, charred."
Firefighters extinguish flames and cool off a train engine after a fire broke out on tracks at the main train station in Cairo Source: AAP
Ahmed Abdeltawab said the platform had been crowded with people waiting for another train.
"The fire overwhelmed them and they ran while they were on fire until they fell metres from the incident," he said. "The scene was terrifying."
Several witnesses said they had seen fire coming out of the train's engine before it crashed, causing an explosion and fires inside the station.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced from the station that the incident would be investigated and anyone found responsible held to account.
Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents causing casualties have been common. Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards for the railways.
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