33 killed in deadly bus crash in Egypt's Sinai

At least 33 people were killed and over 40 others seriously wounded in the early hours of Friday as two buses collided on a highway some 50 km away from Red Sea resort city Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt's South Sinai province, a security source told Xinhua.

"The two passenger buses were too fast and they crashed in confrontation position due to sleepiness of one of the drivers that led to the fatal accident," the source added.

An unnamed medical source revealed that the injured included Saudi Arabian, Ukrainian and Yemeni tourists while the rest are all Egyptians. "None of those dead is a foreigner so far," he said.

The injured passengers were transferred to the two nearby hospitals, and the death toll might increase, according to the security source.

In March, also in South Sinai, 25 people were killed and 27 others injured when a bus collided with a truck at the entrance of the province. Later in May, nine people were killed when a minibus fell into a river in southern Egypt's Minya province.

The lack of highway monitoring system, poor road maintenance and negligence of traffic rules are behind the high rate of the road accidents in Egypt.

According to official reports, road accidents in the most populous Arab country kill at least 12,000 people every year.