Egypt: 15 dead as truck crashes into passenger vehicles in Alexandria

Cairo, Feb 14 (AP) A truck slammed into several passenger vehicles in Egypt's Mediterranean province of Alexandria, killing at least 15 people, authorities said Wednesday.

The crash, which happened late Tuesday in Amreya district, west of Alexandria city, also injured eight people, according to a police report.

The truck slammed into four microbuses, a type of mass-transit minivan that's popular across Egypt, the report said. One microbus overturned and a second was set ablaze, it said.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the crash and transported injured people to hospitals, according to local media.

Traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. Crashes and collisions are often caused by speeding, bad roads or poor enforcement of traffic laws.

In October, a passenger bus slammed into a parked vehicle on a highway linking Alexandria with the capital of Cairo, killing at least 32 people. AP