At least 35 people died and 53 others were injured in a pileup on the road between Cairo and Alexandria on the coast of northern Egypt on Saturday, according to state media reports.
“35 people were killed in the accident, of which at least 18 were burned,” reported the daily Al-Ahram, which published a list of names of “at least 53 injured.”
Road accidents are common in Egypt because roads are often poorly maintained and traffic rules are not followed.
Images published online on social networks show, in particular, a truck overturned on the highway, its asphalt partially burned. Further away, at least one bus and a minibus appear to be largely charred, as are many cars, some of which are still burning.
All around, onlookers and lines of cars wait amidst screams and crowds of people in a thick cloud of black smoke.
Officially, 7,000 people died in traffic accidents in 2021 in the Arab world’s most populous country with 105 million inhabitants.