EGYPT: Death Along the Nile

Pipe-smoking President-Premier Mohammed Naguib, twinkling good will, likes to tour Egypt’s hinterland in his favorite role: father of the people. Last week, when fire devastated the Nile village of Ibyar and razed 102 houses, he set forth on a special train to reassure the hundreds of homeless. On the way back to Cairo, his train stopped at neighboring Kafr ez-Zaiyat. As he stood on the back platform, acknowledging the cheers of 50,000 local fellahin, disaster paid a return visit. The Cairo-Alexandria Express roared down the northbound track, cutting a bloody swath through the crowd, killing 28. Weeping, the President walked into the crowd to comfort the wounded and console relatives of the dead.