Curfew crash kills 18 as Egypt enters lockdown

A lorry ploughed into a line of cars waiting for police to check their curfew exemptions

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  A police officer stands at the Qasr El Nil street during the first day of a two-week night-time curfew which was ordered by the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Cairo, Egypt. Reuters

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  A view of an empty street with the Liberation Tower seen in the background, in Kuwait City. EPA

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  Iraqis use an anti-riot water-cannon vehicle to spray disinfecting liquid in the streets of the centre of the southern city of Basra. AFP

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  Palestinian children play at the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City amid the coronavirus pandemic. AFP

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  An employee of the Palestinian health ministry sprays disinfectant on a worker crossing back from Israel at the checkpoint of Tarqumiya, near the West Bank town of Hebron. EPA

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  A shop owner offers perfume as a disinfectant to a customer at his shop in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA

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  Employees disinfect streets and shops inside Istanbul's famous Grand Bazaar to prevent the spread of coronavirus. EPA

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  Lutfiye Yesilbas, an 89-year-old Turkish woman who lives alone in her home lowers her basket as her neighbour waits to take it at Kadikoy, in Istanbul. AFP

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  An employee of the Palestinian health ministry collects a swab sample from a worker crossing back from Israel at the checkpoint of Tarqumiya, near the West Bank town of Hebron. EPA

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  Iraqi coronavirus patients rest at a special ward at the Hakim Hospital in Najaf. AFP

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  A lion and a bear are seen in a closed zoo in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq. Reuters

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  A man sorts donations for families in need in the central Iraqi holy city of Najaf. AFP

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  People stand in a line to buy bread after Jordan announced it would allow people to go on foot to buy groceries in neighborhood shops, in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

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  The Giza pyramids necropolis on the southwestern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo is pictured empty after the site closed to the general public. AFP

Egypt’s anti-coronavirus curfew got off to a deadly start late on Wednesday when a speeding lorry rammed into 14 waiting vehicles in a suburb south of Cairo, killing 18 people and injuring 12.

Security officials said the line of vehicles were waiting at a motorway checkpoint in the industrial suburb of Helwan as officers approved their exemption to be out after curfew, which began at 7pm on Wednesday night.

The lorry was loaded with construction material, they said.

Most of the victims were passengers in two microbuses, authorities added. The injured were taken to El Saff Central Hospital in the province of Giza for treatment.

The two-week curfew kicked off on Wednesday, the latest bid by the government to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus that has to date killed 21 people. Authorities have reported more than 400 confirmed cases of Corvid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The government has also banned large gatherings, halted international air travel and suspended schools and universities. Religious authorities also shut down mosques and churches.

President Abdel Fatah El Sisi urged Egyptians on Wednesday night to respect the rules introduced to combat the virus. Writing on his official Facebook page, he also reassured Egyptians that “we will get through these critical moments and, with God’s help, they will become a memory from a distant past.”