At least two people have died after a coach full of tourists smashed into a truck near a beach resort in Egypt.
Some 36 other passengers – including foreigners – were injured in the devastating crash near Hurghada on the Red Sea coast.
It is believed that 24 of the passengers on board were foreign tourists, and that some of them were left severely injured following the incident.
The two deceased have been confirmed as the coach driver and one Russian citizen on board.
The Russian Consulate General in Hurghada took to X, stating: ‘At approximately 4:00am on November 11, an accident occurred on the Hurghada-Cairo highway near Ras Ghareb (150 km from Hurghada). A tourist bus collided with a truck. One Russian citizen and the bus driver were killed.
‘The injured are receiving emergency medical care at a hospital in Ras Ghareb. Some of the tourists are being prepared to return to their hotels in Hurghada. Representatives from travel agencies are working at the scene,’ it continued.
A number of emergency vehicles rushed to the devastating scene early this morning and took the injured passengers to hospitals in and around Hurghada.
Local authorities said they received reports that the coach belonging to a Red Sea tourism company had collided with a heavy truck in the early hours of Tuesday.
It had reportedly set off from Hurghada and was travelling North across the country.
The city is around 290 miles south of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. This drive, which uses part of the Ras Gharib-Hurghada road, takes around five hours, although it remains unclear where the coach was heading today.
It takes approximately three hours to get from Hurghada to the Pyramids of Giza. Travel companies often use coaches to run excursions.
The cause of the crash is not yet known and is currently under investigation by Egyptian authorities.
It comes after three people, including two children, died after two passengers trains collided in Egypt’s Nile Delta last September.
The horror occurred in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province. Egypt’s Health Ministry said the collision injured at least 49 others who were rushed to nearby Al-Ahrar and Zagazig University hospitals.
Shocking pictures showed worried onlookers surrounding the crushed carriages, and people could be seen inside the wreck as police officers stood near the scene.
Footage from the site of the crash showed a train car crumpled by the impact, surrounded by crowds. Men tried to lift the injured through the windows of a passenger car.
Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement.
In recent years, the government announced initiatives to improve its railways.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
