Truck crash in Egypt kills 18, many of them child labourers

Most of the dead are age 13 and 14, medical source says

At least 18 people, many of them children, have died when a pick-up truck carrying agricultural labourers crashed in Egypt.

The crash on Tuesday happened on a link road in the Al-Dawawis area of Ismailia governorate, according to Egypt’s Al-Ahram news.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health said there were 47 casualties, including about 30 injured. Victims were rushed to hospital in the nearby town of El-Kassasin.

“Most of the dead are children 13 and 14 years old,” a medical source at the hospital told AFP. The youngest victim was 10 years old

The workers were mostly from two villages in Sharqiya governorate and were employed on a farm in Ismailia, a local security source said.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had ordered an investigation into the accident and the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Ministry of Labour said it would provide financial assistance to the families of those killed and to injured workers.

Pick-up trucks are a common way for Egypt’s informal workers to reach their jobs. At least 1.3 million minors are engaged in child labour, according to official figures.

Road fatalities and injuries in the country have risen by more than 10 percent, according to Egypt’s state statistics agency. Children under 15 recorded the highest toll from such incidents.