Six killed in Egypt road crash, including 5 Palestinians

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

Among the dead were five Palestinians, between 20 and 50 years of age, and one Egyptian, the local ambulance service said 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 said. No further details were 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.

Also last July, two Israelis were killed and another five injured when the minibus they were in collided with another vehicle.

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