At least 32 people were killed and 165 injured when two trains collided in central Egypt on Friday, health ministry officials said, as the Prime Minister admitted the country's rail network urgently needed modernising.

“Unknown individuals” triggered the emergency brakes on one of the trains causing it to stop, the rail authority said. The second train, which was travelling in the same direction, crashed into the first from behind, it added.

Pictures showed train carriages derailed, several of them badly damaged, above a channel of water.

Some of the injured would need to be airlifted to the capital Cairo for treatment, officials said.

The public prosecutor’s office said it had ordered an investigation into the crash, which took place close to the Nile-side town of Tahta, about 365km south of Cairo.

Health minister Hala Zayed said 32 people had died, 165 people were injured and dozens of ambulances had taken casualties to local hospitals. Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents involving casualties are common.