At least 23 killed in road accident south of Egypt's capital

The accident also left 30 people wounded, police and state media say

A picture shows the remains of a bus after it crashed into a truck on a road in al-Minya Governorate south of the the Egyptian capital. AFP

At least 23 people were killed on Tuesday morning when a passenger bus collided with a truck on a desert road in Egypt's Minya province south of Cairo, police officials and state media said.

The collision, near the city of Malawy, about 200 kilometres south of the Egyptian capital, also left 30 people injured.

About 30 ambulances rushed to the scene to take the wounded to hospital, according to acting Health Minister Hossam Abdel Ghafar.

Provincial Governor Osama Al Qady arrived at the scene soon after the accident, police officials said.

The truck driver parked his vehicle on the side of the road so he could change a tyre when the bus, traveling to Cairo from the southern province of Sohag, crashed into it.

Road accidents kill thousands every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record, chiefly because of speeding, bad roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws.