A cargo train collided with two minibuses carrying workers on Monday in Cairo's Helwan district, leaving at least two people dead and six others injured, according to separate statements by the health and transport ministries.

Sixteen ambulances and civil protection personnel have been dispatched to the accident site. Cairo governor Khaled Abdel-Aal also visited the site along with police personnel.

The Ministry of Health said the wounded suffered "minor" injuries and are being treated at two hospitals in Cairo.

The Ministry of Transport said the minibuses were stopped at a residential area through which the railroad passes, and the locomotive driver was not able to sop the train.

Egypt's prosecutor-general has opened an "urgent" investigation into the accident.

Egypt's railway system has had a poor safety record for decades, with deadly collisions and accidents that are often blamed on poor maintenance and management becoming a frequent occurrence.

The government has been implementing ambitious multi-billion-pound projects to replace hundreds of old train carriages and modernise an obsolete signalling system.