At least 12 students were killed and 33 injured in Egypt today after a bus overturned on a highway connecting Cairo to the Red Sea coast, the Egyptian health ministry said.

The bus was carrying students from the University of Galala, in the eastern province of Suez, when it overturned on the Al-Galala highway, which links Cairo to coastal cities on the Red Sea, including Ain Sukhna, according to state media Akhbar al- Yum.

No other vehicle was involved in this traffic accident and an investigation is underway to determine the speed at which the bus was traveling and the circumstances of the accident, the same source clarified.

According to the private pro-government network Sada al-Balad, initial investigations indicate that the bus driver was speeding and lost control of the vehicle.

The Ministry of Health announced that 28 ambulances rushed to the scene of the accident and that the injured were taken to hospital, of which 19 were discharged within the day.

Traffic accidents are common in Egypt, where the traffic code is not always followed and many roads are in poor condition. According to official figures, more than 5,600 people were killed in road accidents in 2023.

Galala University is located in the city of Galala, one of the government’s national projects in Suez Province.

The Galala highway, where the accident occurred, is however part of the thousands of kilometers of highways and viaducts built over the past decade as part of the government’s major infrastructure projects.