Cairo: Egyptian police say nine people were killed when a minibus collided with a small truck on a highway in the southern province of Sohag.

A police statement says the accident took place late on Saturday and that along with the nine killed, nine others were injured. Sohag is located 390km, south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

The statement says the injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Road accidents are common in Egypt, often the result of badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws.

The country’s official statistics agency says more than 8,000 road accidents took place in 2018, leaving over 3,000 dead and around 12,000 injured.