Four French tourists and one Belgian among 10 dead in Egypt bus crash

Other passengers were taken to hospital with broken bones, bruises and minor injuries

Four French tourists and one Belgian were among 10 people killed on Wednesday when their tour bus collided with a lorry in southern Egypt, police said.

The five other passengers killed were Egyptian citizens.

The crash also injured eight French and six Belgian travellers. The injured were in a stable condition, with broken bones, bruises and minor injuries, the police said.

The tour bus was travelling from the southern city of Aswan to Abu Simbel, the site of an ancient Egyptian temple that attracts millions of tourists every year.

"I am closely monitoring news of the crash of the tour bus and the lorry in Aswan province," President Abdel Fattah El Sisi wrote on Facebook.

"I have directed the relevant authorities to take all the necessary measures and to continuously follow up to ensure that the injured receive adequate medical treatment."

He said he also gave instructions for the provision of all forms of support to the deceased and families of the injured.

Wednesday's accident came five days after a bus crashed on a motorway near the Red Sea, killing three people, including two Polish tourists.

It comes at a time when Egypt is struggling to bolster its tourism sector as it slowly recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, which had reduced to a trickle the number of visitors.

The tourism sector, which normally accounts for more than 10 per cent of GDP, is already reeling from the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war. Citizens of the two warring countries normally account for about a third of visitors.

In a move that could help revive the sector, the national carrier - EgyptAir - announced on Wednesday the resumption later this week of flights to Moscow., which were suspended when the war began in February for security reasons.

Videos posted on social media showed local residents at the site of Wednesday's crash attempting to put out a fire at the front of the bus.

AFP

Aswan Governor Ashraf Attyah visited the injured tourists to ensure they were receiving adequate hospital care, police said.

Accurate figures for the number of people killed every year in road accidents in Egypt are difficult to find.

In 2016, the latest year for which figures are available, the number ranges from 8,000 to 10,000.

In 2019, it is estimated there were about 10,000 road accidents.

Wednesday's crash comes at a time when Egypt is struggling to revive its tourism sector as it slowly recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, which had reduced to a trickle the number of visitors. The Tourism sector iriThat slow recovery