at least ten dead after minibus falls into the Nile

At least ten people died on Tuesday May 21 after a minibus fell into the Nile, north of Cairo in Egypt, a spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Health, Hossam Abdelghaffar, told AFP. He also warned that the balance sheet “could get heavier”.

Nine other passengers were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, the Health Ministry said in a statement. The Egyptian Minister of Labor, Hassan Shehata, explained that the minibus was transporting women working on a farm, without further details. The prosecutor’s office opened an investigation and ordered a technical inspection of the minibus, according to the newspaper Al Ahram.

Transport accidents are common in Egypt, particularly in agricultural areas along the country’s many canals, where small, overloaded boats transport farmers and workers.