Egypt mini-bus crash kills at least 13

A truck carrying petrol in northern Egypt has crashed into a mini-bus and exploded into a ball of fire, killing at least 13 people, authorities said.

Officials told the AFP news agency that Monday's crash, which also injured several mini-bus passengers, occurred on a bridge in the town of Kafr El-Zayat, south of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

It was caused when a tyre on the truck burst and the vehicle rolled over before hitting the mini-bus and exploding, according to the officials.

The accident was the worst since a train ploughed into a mini-bus and a truck at a railway crossing on November 18, killing 27 people.

Egyptians have long complained that the authorities have failed to deal with chronic transport problems, with roads and train lines poorly maintained.

In January, 17 people died when a train transporting conscripts derailed, and in November 2012, 47 school children were killed when a train crashed into their bus.

The transport minister and the railway authority head were forced to resign as a result of that accident, which was blamed on a train signal operator who fell asleep on the job.

The government formed a panel to investigate, but as with similar tragedies in the past, it did little to shed light on the details and less still to bring about accountability.

In Egypt's deadliest railway tragedy, the bodies of more than 360 passengers were recovered from a train after a fire in 2002.

Tuesday 10 December 2013

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/12/egypt-mini-bus-crash-kills-at-least-13-2013129194641226928.html