By RIA Novosti,
Cairo : Four Russian tourists were among the 12 people killed when a tourist bus crashed head-on with a truck in Egypt, a Russian consulate official said on Tuesday.
The collision occurred in the Sinai Peninsula near the Red Sea resort of Ras Sadr on Monday. The bus was taking 42 tourists, of which nine were Russians, from Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo on a daytrip.
Two Russians are still in hospital, their injuries are not reported to be life threatening. Two others were discharged after receiving treatment.
In total twelve people died in the two-vehicle crash, seven tourists, four Egyptians traveling in the truck, as well as the coach driver and an Egyptian police officer accompanying the tourists.
According to eyewitness statements the accident was caused when the truck, which was traveling at high speed, suffered a burst tire and the driver lost control of the vehicle smashing head-on into the tourist coach.
The Mena news agency said 34 people had been injured in the crash.
Egypt is notorious for its poor road safety record. According to Egyptian authorities, around 27,000 road accidents occur in the country every year, leading to the deaths of over 6,000 people with over 30,000 injured.
The main cause of road accidents in the country is poorly maintained vehicles and a failure by drivers to obey traffic regulations. In early August the country introduced harsher penalties in an attempt to reduce traffic violations.
In early May six Russians were killed and around 20 injured in a road crash in Egypt.
The Russian Tourist Industry Association said earlier 2 million Russians were expected to visit Egypt this year compared with 1.5 million in 2007. The country is a popular travel destination during the fall and winter months with Russians due to the country’s simplified visa regime, warm climate, good diving and archaeological sites.