16 killed in traffic crash in upper Egypt

At least 16 people were killed and seven others were injured on Sunday evening in a deadly collision of three vehicles on a highway in Upper Egypt's Sohag province, official MENA news agency reported.
The crash took place as a passenger microbus, a truck and a mini-pickup collided at the Red Sea-Sohag highway and they all fell into a nearby depression, said Mohamed Abdel-Aal, Health Ministry's Undersecretary in Sohag, noting that civil protection forces helped ambulances to pick up the bodies.
The official added that the seven injured passengers, including two children, were taken to the nearby Sohag University Hospital and that they suffered bruises and fractures.
Egypt ranks high among world countries in the rate of road accidents, as the World Health Organization says "Egypt loses about 12,000 lives due to road traffic crashes every year."
Lack of highway monitoring systems, poor road maintenance and negligence of traffic rules are behind the high rate of road accidents in Egypt.