19 dead as buses fall into Egypt canal

Click banner for more info

At least 19 people were killed and 12 others wounded when two minibuses collided and fell into an irrigation canal in southern Egypt on early Tuesday, Luxor Security Chief General Montasser Abu Zeid said. As the victims were coming from a wedding, one of the drivers lost control of the wheel when he surprisingly found another speedy bus coming from at the opposite side near Dhabiya village in Luxor’s West Bank, 670 km far from the capital. The strength of the crash pushed the two buses into the canal, Zeid said, noting most of the victims are women and children.
Continue..

 Ten ambulances rushed to the scene, and the Nile security forces were still combing the area in search for survivors, he added. Traffic accidents are common in Egypt due to poorly maintained roads and a common disregard for traffic laws. A 2012 World Health Organization report showed that at least 12,000 people die in such accidents every year in the country. On Friday, 33 people were killed as two passenger buses collided on a highway some 50 km away from Red Sea resort city Sharm El-Sheikh. Last March, at least 25 people were killed and 27 others injured when a bus collided with a truck at the entrance of Egypt’ s south Sinai. In May, nine people were killed when a minibus fell into a river in southern Egypt’s Menia province.