Cairo, July 16 (IANS): At least 12 people were killed and 27 were injured Tuesday in a road accident on Qena-Safaga highway in southern Egypt, a security official said.
"There is no criminal suspicion behind the accident, which took place due to excessive speed of the two vehicles," Xinhua quoted a Qena security official as saying.
He said a bus belonging to a church was involved in the accident and that tens of ambulances and civil protection vehicles rushed to the scene.
A senior health ministry official in Qena said that six of the seriously injured have been moved to Qena University Hospital, while the rest were taken to Safaga and Hurghada public hospitals. Further critical cases will be moved to Cairo and Assiut University hospitals after necessary medical treatments.
Last March, at least 25 people were killed and 27 were injured when a bus collided with a truck at the entrance of Egypt' s south Sinai. Later in May, nine people were killed when a minibus fell into a river in southern Egypt's Menia province.
The lack of highway monitoring system, poor road maintenance and the negligence of traffic rules are behind the high rate of road accidents in Egypt, which kill at least 10,000 people every year, according to official estimates.