Road accident leaves 13 policemen dead in Upper Egypt

More than a dozen police officers lost their lives and four others sustained injuries when their vehicle rammed into a truck head-on in Upper Egypt.

Medical sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the accident took place on a road linking the central Egyptian city of Beni Suef, situated 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of the capital, Cairo, to Minya, located approximately 245 kilometers (152 miles) south of Cairo, when an armored police truck collided with a truck carrying construction materials on Friday.

Thirteen policemen along with three civilians were killed in the mishap, while four conscripts sustained injuries. Two of the injured are reportedly in critical condition in hospital.

Deadly road accidents claim thousands of lives and leave many injured in Egypt every year. They are mostly caused by speeding, disregard for traffic laws, ill-maintained roads as well as lack of regular vehicle maintenance.

Road accidents killed more than 6,000 people and injured 24,000 others in Egypt last year, according to the latest report published by the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.