At least 10 people have been killed after a tourist bus crashed into a truck and then caught fire in southern Egypt.
The regional governor said the incident happened on the road between the city of Aswan and the temples of Abu Simbel, a popular tourist destination a few hours south.
The bus was traveling to the temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, about 55 km south of the ancient city of Luxor.
The crash killed four people from France, as well as one Belgian and five Egyptians.
Image: The wreckage of the bus after the crash. Photo: AP
Another 14 people were injured, including eight French tourists and six from Belgium.
The Ministry of Health announced that 30 ambulances had been sent to the scene, which took the victims to hospitals.
Aswan Provincial Governor Ashraf Atia said the wounded were in stable condition.
“Tragic incident”
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Twitter that he was closely following the incident and told the government to “provide all medical and medical care for the victims of the tragic incident.”
The cause of the crash is still unknown.
The incident came five days after a bus crashed on a highway near the Red Sea, killing three people, including two Polish tourists.
Image: The bus was traveling to the temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile. Photo: AP
Fatal road accidents are known to claim thousands of lives each year in Egypt, as the country has poor transport safety performance.
Accidents and collisions are mostly caused by speeding, bad roads or poor enforcement of traffic rules.
Egypt’s official statistics agency said there were about 10,000 road accidents in 2019, the last year for which statistics are available, leaving more than 3,480 dead.
In 2018, there were 8,480 car accidents that caused more than 3,080 deaths.
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