Associated Press
CAIRO: The driver of a bus carrying tourists that overturned in the Sinai Peninsula last month, killing 12 Israeli Arabs and an Egyptian, was convicted of negligent manslaughter Saturday, a court official said.
A court in the Sinai town of Nuweiba sentenced Ahmad Hanafi Abu El-Elah to a one-year jail term, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Egypt has a history of serious bus and car crashes on its roads, which are often poorly maintained or without stringent traffic regulations.
The bus carrying tourists, mostly Arabs from Israel, overturned in the Sinai Aug. 22, killing on impact 10 Israeli Arabs and an Egyptian working for the tour company and injuring more than 35. Two of the seriously wounded Israeli Arab passengers died of their wounds a few days after the crash, police said.
The accident occurred in the town of Al-Saada, about 385 km southeast of Cairo, between the resort cities of Nuweiba and Taba, near the Israeli border. Sinai is a popular destination for Israeli tourists despite a series of terrorist attacks there since 2004
