Some 98 others were injured in the accident which took place in the city of Qalyubia north of the capital, government officials added in a statement on Sunday.

Fourteen of those hurt later left hospitals after they were treated of minor injuries, a health ministry spokesman said.

Four carriages of the train, which was heading from Cairo to the Nile Delta province of Mansoura, derailed, the state railway authority said.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Online footage shows several carriages turned over with the sirens of ambulances heard in the background.

The train driver and assistant as well as eight other rail officials were arrested in connection with the derailment, privately owned newspaper al-Shorouk reported.

Egypt has seen several railway tragedies in recent years.

Earlier this week, 15 people were injured after a derailment in the northern province of Minya al-Qamh.

On March 26, two passenger trains collided in southern Egypt, killing at least 19 people.

In February 2019, an unmanned locomotive rammed into a platform at Cairo's train station, causing a fire that claimed 31 lives.

Egypt's worst rail disaster took place in 2002, when a passenger train caught fire, killing more than 360 people.

Australian Associated Press