Up to 40 school children were killed when a train and their bus collided in a city south of Cairo.
A doctor at a hospital in Assiut, near the crash site, said many of the children were around four to six-years-old.
Witness have said the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it.
President Mohamed Mursi ordered his ministers to offer support to the families of those killed and the local governor ordered an enquiry.
Egyptians have complained successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards on roads and the railways, leading to a string of deadly accidents.
