Officials: 9 people killed in Egypt tourist bus accident
ABU ZENIMA, Egypt (AP) — A speeding tourist bus carrying dozens of Europeans and Canadians overturned, rolled off an embankment and burst into flames Thursday on a desert highway in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. At least nine people were killed and about 30 wounded, officials said.
An Italian woman who survived the crash said the bus, which was carrying about 40 tourists, exploded moments after she leaped away from the wreckage.
Most of the passengers were asleep during the overnight trip from the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheik to Cairo when the bus overturned, said Diana Argentieri, who was vacationing in Egypt with friends. She said the bus rolled over three or four times.
"It all seems like a nightmare, but unfortunately it's real," Argentieri, 27, told The Associated Press by telephone from a hospital where she received stitches to her back and shoulder.
Many of the wounded had severe burns, emergency officials said.
The driver, Ali Haridi, said he lost control of the bus on a sharp curve in the highway at Abu Zenima, an area about 40 miles southeast of the Suez Canal. After the fire broke out, passengers jumped from windows of the burning bus, he said.
"I was surprised by the turn and I wasn't able to control the steering wheel, and I lost control and it rolled over," Haridi told the AP as he was taken into the hospital at Suez with burns and cuts.
Argentieri said the bus started speeding soon after it left Sharm el-Sheik around 1 a.m., and many passengers were worried. "The bus was going very fast and the road was in bad condition. We were immediately scared by the speed," she said.
She said the bus rolled off the road, down an incline and onto a rocky spur. Other survivors had to jump about 10 feet to avoid the flames, she said.
"We had no choice, so we plucked up our courage and jumped," she said. "Immediately after that the bus exploded."
Egyptian roads see frequent accidents because of speeding, careless driving and poor road conditions. At least 8,000 people were killed in accidents in 2006, the most recent statistics available.
The bus in Thursday's crash was carrying Canadians, Britons, Italians, Russians and other tourists from Eastern Europe, said Dr. Said Issa, director of emergency services in the Sinai.
At least nine passengers were killed and about 30 wounded, officials said. Egyptian officials were still trying to confirm the nationalities of the dead hours later.
Romania's ambassador to Egypt, Gheorghe Dumitru, said a 41-year-old Romanian woman was among the dead.
Timur Agametov, vice consul at the Russian Embassy in Cairo, said embassy staff were at the scene and visiting Russian victims in hospitals. He at least one Russian was confirmed dead.
Egyptian security officials said one Egyptian died and identified him as the bus driver's assistant, Mohammed Abdel-Hameed.
A security official gave a breakdown of nationalities of those injured: 14 Russians, four Britons, two Canadians, two Italians, two Romanians, one Ukrainian and four Egyptians. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.
Associated Press Writer Ariel David contributed to this report from Rome.
