18 killed in road collision in northeastern Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — A truck and a pickup truck collided on a highway in Egypt on Thursday afternoon, killing 18 people and injuring three others, officials said.

The collision occurred on the 30 June Axis south of Port Said province, killing the fishermen who were on the road in one of the vehicles, according to a statement from the Labor Ministry. It’s unclear how the vehicles collided.

The pickup truck was transporting the fishermen to work at fish farms in Port Said, a coastal province in northeastern Egypt with an active fishing industry, when the collision happened around 12:30 p.m. It is likely that they are natives of the town and district of Matareya in Dakahlia province, according to officials.

Photos posted on Dakahlia’s governor’s Facebook page showed the aftermath of the crash, with a pickup truck crushed between two large cargo trucks and debris scattered across the road.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly in a statement expressed condolences to the families of the victims and ordered that monetary assistance be provided to them. Meanwhile, the Port Said governor visited the crash site and the injured at local hospitals to ensure traffic was restored and that survivors were receiving proper medical care, according to a statement issued by the governor’s office on Facebook.

Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. Speeding, bad roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws are the main reasons behind most of the crashes.