MINYA: The number of people killed when a bus plunged into a canal rose to 59 on Monday after rescue workers pulled four more bodies from the murky water, an official said.
The bus carrying 73 passengers crashed into an irrigation canal off the main highway between the Nile Valley city of Minya and Beni Sueif, south of Cairo, on Sunday after the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming truck.
“A 59th body was recovered, but rescue workers are searching for four more, said the official, adding that 10 survivors who had been taken to hospital on Sunday had left after treatment.
Frogmen sent into the canal to comb the waters for survivors had suspended their efforts late Sunday with 55 bodies recovered.
All of the dead drowned before rescue teams could reach them, a hospital official told AFP.
It was the deadliest road accident in Egypt since 1987, when 63 Egyptians were killed in a collision between a bus and a train.
A ticket collector told investigators that the bus was designed to carry a maximum of 50 passengers, a police officer told AFP.
A police official said the bus driver had been speeding in excess of 100 km per hour and had lost control when he tried avoiding the oncoming truck.
Both the bus and truck drivers have been arrested and will be prosecuted, the official said.
Poor road conditions and vehicle upkeep compounded by lax traffic regulations cause thousands of accidents in Egypt each year. A new traffic law came into force in August with the aim of improving road safety.
Traffic accidents kill around 6,000 people and injure another 30,000 each year, according to transport ministry figures. -AFP
