Sixty-five people were killed and 140 others wounded when two trains collided north of the Egyptian capital Cairo on Monday, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera satellite channel reported.

An Egyptian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the collision.

He also said that the collision caused fire to one of the two trains and put the casualties at about 55 dead and over 153 injured.

Meanwhile, Egypt's official MENA news agency said that according to preliminary reports, 26 people were killed and 131 wounded.

The collision occurred at about 7:30 a.m. (0430 GMT) in Qalyoub, a small town, about 20 km north of Cairo, in the Governorate of Qalyubiya, said the report.

One of the trains traveling from Mansoura, about 120 km north of Cairo, to the capital, neglected signals to stop and rammed into the rear car of the other train, which came from Banha, capital of Qalyubiya Governorate, to Cairo.

Adli Hussein, Qalyoubia Governor, told the Egyptian state television that the fire was put out and the casualties were expected to rise.

The accident came about three months after a cargo train collided head-on with a passenger train in the Governorate of Sharqiya on May 1, leaving 65 people injured.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2006)