The accident, whose causes are not yet known, occurred in southern Tunis. No serious cases are to be deplored, according to the spokesperson for civil defense.
Le Monde with AFP
Nearly 100 people were injured Monday, March 21, most slightly, in the collision of two trains in the southern Capital Tunis, reported civil defense. “They were transported to hospitals,” communicated the spokesman for the Civil Defense, Moez Trea, stating that one of the trains carried passengers while the second was empty.
About fifteen ambulances and other relief vehicles have been mobilized at the place of the accident. Depending on the spokesperson, most wounded suffer from fractures or bruises or are in a shock, but no serious case is to be deplored.
The collision between the two trains of the National Tunisian Railway Society (SNCFT) took place around 9:30 am in Jebel Jelloud, in the southern suburbs of the capital. Its causes were not known in the immediate future, but it took place a few minutes before the expected arrival of two suburban trains heading to Tunis Central Station.
Failed infrastructures
A correspondent of the France-press agency on the spot saw the front of the driver’s cab of one of the partially trains.
In December 2016, five people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the same area in a collision between a public transport bus and a train, due to faulty infrastructure.
Tunisia knew in June 2015 one of the most serious railway drama of its recent history, with the death of 18 people in an accident between a train and a truck in El Fahs, about sixty kilometers south of Tunis. The collision was due to a signaling failure at the crossing.