Renad Ghanem Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – A bus accident that claimed the lives of more than 50 people, mostly children, shocked the Egyptian community living in Saudi Arabia. The accident happened when a train slammed into a school bus as it crossed a railway track in a village south of Cairo Saturday. According to families of the victims, the bodies of children killed in the accident were torn into pieces. The front side of the train was covered with children's blood. Many Egyptian expatriates blamed the government for the accident. People watching the news on TV were not satisfied with the government's reaction to the disaster. They said that it was wrong for the Egyptian government to talk about financial compensation for the kin of the dead when the victims had not been buried yet. All Egyptian expatriates interviewed about the incident said they hoped the government would take action to prevent such accidents from happening in the future. Hamed Abdul Rasheed, who works in the police sector and is the father of four of the victims, told the Egyptian media that he went to the accident scene hoping to find any of his children alive. He added: “I thank God for everything. This is destiny. I will pray for them all the time.” Hamad also lost his niece in the same accident, but refused to blame any official, the bus driver or railroad workers. He added: “My children used to go together to school and when they died, they also died together. The school is located 14 kilometers away from my village. I was afraid every day because the roads were not safe for cars, let alone buses.” An uncle of one of the children killed in the accident told Egyptian channel Al-Nahar TV he did not want financial compensation and that nothing will ever compensate the loss of their children. Ahmed Abdul Ghani, a Jeddah-based Egyptian expatriate working in the private sector, said the accident shocked all Egyptians and even Saudis who were following the story on Egyptian TV. He added: “As an Egyptian I have not stopped crying since I learned about the accident. The government's reaction was very delayed as usual.” Jihan Mohammed, an Egyptian housewife living in Jeddah, said she has been glued to the television since she received a phone call from Egypt about the accident. “It was shocking. My heart goes out to the family of the victims,” she said, adding: “Transportation officials should be held accountable for this accident because there is no one monitoring modes of transport. I think there have been more than 10 train accidents that have happened in Egypt so far and nothing was done to take remedial measures.” There was a massive reaction from Twitter users to the accident. “As usual the government will find any official to say that it's his fault and nothing will change,” one tweet said. Another tweeted: “If a minister's son was killed in the bus, I don't think there would be the same shameful reaction to the accident.” Another Twitter criticized those who were celebrating the recent success of Egyptian team Al-Ahli: “Some people are celebrating outdoors the victory of Al-Ahli. Are those people Egyptians?!”
