Tunisia dismisses director-general of railroad company over an accident

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied dismissed the director-general of the National Railway Company (SNCFT), Belkacem Taya, on Friday, over an accident in which two trains collided in the capital, Tunis.

On Thursday evening, two trains ran into each other in the southern suburbs of the capital, Tunis, injuring 36 passengers with varying degrees of severity, according to the state company.

A brief statement by the Tunisian presidency stated, on Friday evening, that a new general manager of the SNCFT will be appointed following the formation of the government; no specific date or details have been given.

Following the accident, the SNCFT’s communications director, Hassan Miadi, told Anadolu Agency that the injured people were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The company expressed its regret over the accident in a statement, explaining that it had started an investigation to find out its circumstances and causes and to determine which side was responsible for it.

According to the company’s statistics, Tunisia records about 100 train accidents annually, most of them occur at the intersection of railways and roads.