14 HK tourists killed in Egypt bus crash
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-01-31 16:45

Fourteen Hong Kong tourists were killed and about 30 others wounded in a bus accident on Tuesday in southeastern Egypt, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

The ill-fated bus was en route from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada to the main southern tourist city of Luxor when the accident happened, according to the report.

"High speed was the cause of the accident which occurred at one of the curves on the road," it added.

About 30 people were wounded in the accident, some in critical condition, said MENA, adding that the injured were rushed to hospitals in Hurghada.

The Chinese embassy in Cairo is now carrying out investigation over the report.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for a Hong Kong travel agency which organized the trip told a press conference held in Hong Kong that the company has been told of the accident and was preparing to send representatives and relatives of the victims to Egypt on Tuesday evening.

The company has not got the name list of the victims as there was great "confusion" at the hospital where the wounded were being treated, he said.

The company's record showed that the group was made up of 43 tourists from Hong Kong, including 16 men, 24 women and 3 children.

Some of the wounded were slightly injured and able to give some details of the accident to the company, according to the spokesman.

Road accidents are common in Egypt due to bad roads, dangerous driving and loose enforcement of traffic rules.

A recent government report said that some 6,000 Egyptians died in road accidents every year.