Cairo: Sixteen people, including 13 policemen, were killed in a road crash in the provincial city of Beni Sueif, south of the Egyptian capital, state television reported on Saturday.
The accident occurred when a vehicle carrying policemen and a truck collided late on Friday, the broadcaster said.
The driver of the truck, his aide and an unidentified civilian were also killed.
The strength of the collision forced the police vehicle to plunge into a roadside canal.
The exact cause of the crash was not officially announced yet.
Local media said that the truck was driving at a high speed in the opposite direction, resulting in a head-on collision with the police vehicle.
Egypt has one of the world’s highest road accidents, mainly blamed on reckless driving and poor roads.
Late last year, Egyptian authorities toughened traffic penalties after 18 students were killed when their bus collided with a fuel tank truck in the Nile Delta province of Behaira.
In a separate case, At least four persons, including two children, were killed on Saturday when a four-storey residential building collapsed in the Upper Egyptian city of Asyut.
Six others were injured in the mishap, officials said.
The injured have been admitted to hospital.
A search and rescue effort have been launched to locate any survivors from under the rubble.
Building collapse is common in Egypt because of illegal extension of structures and failure to adopt construction guidelines.
Last year, 19 people were killed and eight others injured when an eight-storey building collapsed in Matariya district.
— With inputs from PTI
