Vehicle accident in southern Egypt kills 9, injures 18

CAIRO (AP) — A vehicle accident involving an overturned microbus in southern Egypt killed at least nine people and injured 18, authorities said Saturday.

The crash took place Friday when the passenger vehicle overturned following a tire blowout on a highway in Minya province 273 kilometers (170 miles) south of the capital Cairo, provincial authorities said in a statement.

The microbus, a sort of mass transit minivan, was transporting people from Sohag province to Cairo, the statement said.

Ambulances rushed to the site and moved the injured to hospitals in Minya, the statement added.

Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. The crashes and collisions are mostly caused by speeding, bad roads or poor enforcement of traffic laws.

Earlier this month, a microbus collided with a truck in Sohag, killing at least 17 people and injuring four others. In July, a passenger bus slammed into a parked trailer truck in Minya, leaving 23 dead and a least 30 wounded.