Nine children were killed and two others hurt Tuesday after a motorized tricycle tumbled into a canal in southern Egypt, according to local officials.
The vehicle went into the water in the Abu Tig area, located within the southern province of Assiut, as confirmed by a statement released on Facebook by the governor’s office. Assiut sits roughly 320 kilometers — about 199 miles — south of Cairo, the nation’s capital, and is a province in Upper Egypt recognized for its historic sites.
Reports from local media indicated that a malfunction in the tricycle’s steering caused it to flip over. At the time of the accident, the vehicle was carrying children who were on their way home after working at nearby farms. The status of the two injured individuals remained uncertain. According to the governor’s office, the victims’ bodies were transported to Abu Tig Hospital.
Cairo 24, a local Egyptian news outlet, reported that the children who died ranged in age from 10 to 17 years old.
Images shared by the governor’s office captured a large crowd gathered along the canal’s edge while rescue workers wearing diving equipment searched the water below.
Assiut Gov. Mohamed Elwan directed authorities to take action on safety improvements, including placing concrete barriers along the canal’s banks to help prevent future tragedies.
Traffic fatalities are a persistent problem in Egypt, where thousands of people die each year in road-related incidents. The country has a well-documented record of poor transportation safety, with speeding, deteriorating road conditions, and lax enforcement of traffic regulations cited as leading causes of crashes. Earlier this year, a collision between a truck and a pickup truck on a highway claimed 18 lives, officials said.
