The Ayyat Misdemeanor Appeal Court issued reduced sentences on Tuesday for those responsible for a train crash last October in Ayyat, south of Cairo. The men were originally charged with manslaughter, negligence and unintentionally wasting Railway Authority public funds. Train driver Mohamed Moussa's prison sentence was reduced from seven to three years, while his assistant, Khaled Bakry, was acquitted of manslaughter charges but received a six-month sentence for negligence. Ramadan Mersal, the first conductor, was sentenced to one year, and Hossam Abdel Azim, the second conductor, to six months, both on charges of negligence and wasting public funds. Second train driver Amir Hakim had his sentence reduced from five years to three years, while his assistant Bebawi Isaac, his central control room officer Hassan Mohamed and his signal controller Badr Salem were all sentenced to three years instead of five. The men welcomed the verdicts and congratulated each other after the hearing. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
