CAIRO: Fourteen tourists from Hong Kong were killed and 30 others wounded in a bus accident Tuesday in southeastern Egypt, the official MENA news agency reported.
The bus, carrying the tourists from the Red Sea resort of Hurghada to the southern Nile city of Luxor, was going at high speed when it spun off the road, the agency said.
RTHK radio in Hong Kong said the group left Hong Kong on Friday for a 10-day trip to Egypt.
The 30 wounded in the bus crash were taken to hospitals in Hurghada, one of Egypt s most popular holiday destinations.
The news agency quoted the head of Hurghada hospital, Mohammed Al-Sayyed, as saying that an Egyptian national was also wounded in the crash.
Red Sea provincial governor Abu Bakr al-Rashidi told public television that three of the wounded were in serious condition. The others are suffering mainly from fractures and concussion, he said.
The driver was speeding because the tour group was running behind schedule, Rashidi said, adding that the health ministry had sent a special team to Hurghada to treat the wounded.
Tuesday was a public holiday in Egypt, with Muslims celebrating the Islamic new year, and the Chinese embassy could not immediately be reached for more details.
Six Australian tourists died in a bus crash on January 11.
Some 6,000 people die in road accidents each year in Egypt. A recent report by the country s transport ministry said they were the second-highest cause of death in Egypt. AFP
