8 kids killed as vehicle plunges into Egypt canal

CAIRO: Eight child workers were killed in northern Egypt on Saturday when the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a canal in the Nile Delta, a local official said.

The children were workers at a factory in the city, around 140km north of the capital of Cairo, a police statement said.

The victims of the dawn accident worked “picking potatoes,” said the official from Itay Al Baroud in poverty-stricken Beheira province where the crash took place.

They would go to school by day and work in the fields at night to help their families, the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the driver survived and has been detained for questioning.

The three-wheeled vehicle was carrying at least 13 people when it overturned and sank in the channel early Saturday.

Rescuers retrieved the bodies of eight children between 12-15 years old, health authorities said. At least four others survived and rescue workers were searching for at least one other. Prosecutors opened an investigation into the cause of the Local media said those killed were aged between 12 and 15.

Egyptian law allows children 15 and older to work. Seasonal work by children from the age of 13 is tolerated.

Recently, 17 people were killed while 17 others were injured in a terrible collision between a minibus and a public transport bus in Egypt. The mishap took place on the international road El-tor - Al Shahid Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel in South Sinai.

The authorities received a report from the Roads Security Department of a horrific collision on the international road about 10km before the city of El Tor between a public bus heading to Sharm El Sheikh and a minibus.

It has been said the accident took place due to lack of visibility caused by dense fog and that one of the two drivers lost control over the driving wheel.

The authorities dispatched 17 ambulances to the site of the accident from which the dead bodies were transferred to El Tor Public Hospital, while the wounded were taken to Al Zahraa Hospital in Tor Sinai.

An operations room was formed to follow up on the accident, and the Public Prosecution was notified as well.

An investigation was launched to reveal its circumstances and to identify the victims and injured people.

Deadly road accidents are common in Egypt, where many roads are in disrepair and traffic regulations oten ignored.

Some 7,000 people died in road accidents in the country in 2020, according to official figures.