ambulância Egito - onapalmtree/Shutterstock.com
At least 22 people lost their lives and another 28 were injured in a serious bus accident that occurred on August 2, 2023, in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. The victims include Egyptian and Jordanian citizens, according to information released by local authorities.
The tragedy occurred on a road that connects the tourist resorts of Dahab and Nuweiba, located in the province of South Sinai. The Egyptian Ministry of Health said in a statement that the vehicle was heading from Cairo to Amman when it overturned. To respond to the incident, twenty ambulances were quickly mobilized to the scene, transporting the injured and bodies to hospitals in the region.
Authorities at Egypt’s Ministry of Health did not provide details about the exact cause of the accident. However, local press outlets reported that the rollover was caused by one of the bus’s tires bursting.
It was confirmed that the fatal victims were of Egyptian and Jordanian nationality. The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the presence of Jordanians among the dead, but did not specify the exact number. On the other hand, the public broadcaster al-Mamlaka, based in Amman, reported that ten Jordanian citizens lost their lives in the accident.
Incidents like this are a sad annual reality in Egypt, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. The country has a worrying record in terms of transport safety. Factors such as excessive speed, the poor condition of highways and inadequate inspection are cited as the main causes of most of these tragic occurrences.
A similar event occurred in January, when 21 people died and 16 were seriously injured after a multiple vehicle collision on a road near Beni Suef province in southern Egypt.
