CAIRO: Two trains collided south of the Egyptian capital on Sunday, killing seven people, injuring 112 and derailing several carriages, authorities said.

A train traveling from Giza to Fayoum struck the rear of another heading from Cairo to the southern city of Aswan, Egypt’s railway authority said. The crash occurred in the Al-Ayyat area of Giza.

The Health Ministry said the injured were being treated at hospitals in the Giza area. State-owned media earlier reported 120 injuries but did not specify their severity.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said he was following the accident “with great concern,” and had directed authorities to conduct an urgent investigation to “hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent.”

Emergency crews used cranes to remove the wreckage, the authority said.

Authorities said they had launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which occurred in Giza’s Al-Ayyat area, the site of Egypt’s worst-ever rail disaster.

In 2002, more than 370 people were killed when a fire swept through a train carrying holiday travelers south of Cairo.

In 2009, multiple train crashes in the area killed dozens.

Egypt’s 110 million people depend heavily on rail transport, but the network — one of the largest in Africa — has suffered repeated deadly accidents.

Over the past decade, Egypt has poured billions of dollars into updating its transport infrastructure, including new highways and high-speed rail lines, but has yet to overhaul much of its aging rail network.