At least four people were killed and 88 injured on Sunday when two passenger trains collided south of Cairo, Egypt's health ministry said. The crash happened between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in the Al-Ayyat area of Giza province, about 76 kilometres south of the capital, Reuters reported.

Egypt's railway authority said a train travelling from Giza to Fayoum ran into the rear of another service heading from Cairo to Aswan, derailing several carriages. Dozens of ambulances were sent to the scene, and the injured were taken to hospitals in Giza and Beni Suef. Reports citing the health ministry said 54 people were taken to Al Wasta Hospital in Beni Suef and 10 to Al Ayyat Hospital in Giza, while local media said a train driver was among the dead.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered a swift investigation and said anyone found negligent should be held accountable. The prosecutor general also sent a team to the scene to establish the cause of the collision. Emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage and restore services on the Cairo to Upper Egypt line, which was suspended after the crash.

The crash is the latest in a long series of deadly accidents on Egypt's railways. Al-Ayyat was the scene of the country's worst rail disaster in 2002, when a fire on a crowded train killed more than 370 people.