Eighteen killed as bus plunges into river

Eighteen people – 17 passengers and a bus driver – died today when their coach plunged into a dugout branch of the Nile River in southern Egypt, the state Mena news agency reported.

A pick-up driver, who had apparently caused the accident near the village of Beni Mzar in Minya province, also died.

The crash happened as the bus driver scrambled to avoid a collision with the speeding pick-up trying to overtake him, police chief Mahmoud Noureddin in Minya, 220km south of Cairo, was quoted as saying.

As the bus swerved, the truck driver also lost control and overturned his vehicle.

Rescue workers managed to retrieve 18 bodies, including that of the bus driver, after the vehicle sank in the Ibrahimya branch of the Nile.

Some 40 surviving passengers were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, Mena said.