At least 27 people were killed in two separate incidents in Egypt yesterday. According to Egyptian sources, 22 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a truck in the south-western province of Wadi El-Gedid, and 5 more people were killed after a train derailed south of Cairo.

Security and health officials said that 22 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a collision between a bus and a truck in the Wadi El-Gedid province. Security sources said that initial inspections indicate that excessive speed caused the accident which occurred early yesterday morning.

The bus was transporting workers from Giza (a province adjacent to Cairo) to Wadi El-Gedid. The Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted a security source as saying that ambulances rushed to the scene of the accident on the Farafrah – El-Bahariya Road and transported the injured and dead bodies to hospital. Egypt has one of the highest rates of traffic accidents in the world because of reckless driving, the poor condition of many roads and the fact that some cars are in a very bad condition.

Hours after the crash, a train derailed south of Cairo, killing five people and injuring about 25 others, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Health. Eye witnesses said that the first three cars of the train overturned after the train derailed.

There have been several train accidents in Egypt over the last few years. This has resulted in hundreds of people being killed, and officials have attributed this to a lack of maintenance of trains and train carriages.

The head of Egypt’s ambulance service Dr Ahmed Al-Ansari said that the Ministry of Health sent a medical team to two hospitals near the site of the crash; Al-Hawamidiyya General Hospital and Ayat Central Hospital, to monitor the situation of those injured.