6 killed in crash between truck and minibus in Egypt, 5 of them Palestinians

CAIRO — At least six people were killed when a pickup truck and a minibus collided today near Egypt’s eastern city of Ismailia, health officials says. Three others were injured in the crash.

Among the dead are five Palestinians, between 20 and 50 years of age, and one Egyptian, the local ambulance service says in a statement.

According to Egyptian media, the five Palestinian passengers were heading to Rafah, Egypt’s official border crossing with the Gaza Strip.

Eight ambulances were dispatched to the scene of the accident to transfer injured people to nearby hospitals for treatment, the ambulance service says. No further details are given.

Fatal car accidents are common across the North Africa country, killing thousands every year. Last November, 21 people died after a bus fell into a canal in Egypt’s Nile River Delta region. In July 2022, a passenger bus slammed into a parked trailer in the south of the country, killing 23 people.

Car crashes and road collisions in Egypt are largely caused by speeding, poor roads or lax enforcement of traffic laws.