18 teenage girls among 19 killed in Egypt truck-minibus crash

Dubai: Eighteen teenage girls were killed and three others seriously injured on Friday morning when a heavy-duty truck collided with a minibus carrying farm workers on a rural road in the city of Ashmoun in the Nile Delta Governorate of Menoufia, north of Cairo, Egyptian authorities said. The truck collided with the minibus as it carried the labourers to their workplace from their home village of Kafr Al Sanabsa

The driver of the minibus was also killed, bringing the total death toll to 19. According to local media reports, the minibus was carrying 22 girls, aged between 14 and 17, who work in agricultural fields and were on their way to their workplace at the time of the crash. Emergency services responded quickly to the scene, but many of the victims were declared dead upon arrival. The three surviving girls were taken to a nearby hospital with severe injuries, health officials said.

Preliminary investigations show that speeding was a primary factor in the collision, which left both vehicles extensively damaged. Authorities are continuing to examine the circumstances of the crash.

The tragedy has sparked a wave of national mourning and public outrage, with Egyptians taking to social media to express condolences and question the working conditions that had sent teenage girls into farm labour and home in overcrowded and poorly regulated transport. Egyptian media has dubbed the crash victims “martyrs for their daily bread”.