egypt
Senior officials in Egypt's southern Governorate of Minia inspect the site of the collision. Image Credit: Supplied

Cairo: A truck and a passenger minibus collided on a desert road in Upper Egypt, killing 13 people, security sources said Friday.

Four others were wounded in the tragedy that occurred early Friday in the southern Governorate of Minia, they added.

Initial investigations found that the accident had happened due to high speed and failure to observe road rules.

The minibus had rammed into the truck that was driving in the opposite direction of the route when one of the two vehicles attempted to overtake a third car, semi-official newspaper Al Ahram reported.

Minia Governor Osama Al Qadi and local security officials rushed to the site of the mishap to inspect rescue and evacuation efforts, the governorate reported on its website.

In recent years, Egypt has built a network of roads and toughened traffic penalties in an attempt to curb road crashes in the nation of over 100 million people.