11 Hungarian tourists killed in Egypt bus crash

Eleven Hungarian tourists were killed late Sunday when a speeding tour bus overturned at a Red Sea resort town in southeastern Egypt, police and medical officials said.

The crash also injured 27 Hungarian tourists. It took place at the entrance of Hurghada, 315 miles (510 kilometers) southeast of Cairo, according to Egypt's state-run news agency MENA. The agency said the dead and the injured were taken by ambulance to Hurghada hospital.

Four children were among the injured, according to the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm daily paper.

Egyptian security and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said the bus was carrying the tourists from their hotel to the airport on a highway. The driver lost control of the bus because of its high speed, the officials said.

The accident happened on the first day of Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, when many Egyptians and tourists head to Red Sea resorts for vacation.

Road accidents are common in Egypt due to badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws. Police estimate road accidents kill about 6,000 people annually in the nation with a population of about 82 million.

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