Skip to main content

18 killed in road collision in northeastern Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — A truck and a pickup truck collided on a highway in Egypt on Thursday afternoon, killing 18 people and injuring three others, officials said.

The collision occurred on the 30 June Axis south of Port Said province, killing the fishermen who were on the road in one of the vehicles, according to a statement from the Labor Ministry. It’s unclear how the vehicles collided.

The pickup truck was transporting the fishermen to work at fish farms in Port Said, a coastal province in northeastern Egypt with an active fishing industry, when the collision happened around 12:30 p.m. It is likely that they are natives of the town and district of Matareya in Dakahlia province, according to officials.

Photos posted on Dakahlia’s governor’s Facebook page showed the aftermath of the crash, with a pickup truck crushed between two large cargo trucks and debris scattered across the road.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly in a statement expressed condolences to the families of the victims and ordered that monetary assistance be provided to them. Meanwhile, the Port Said governor visited the crash site and the injured at local hospitals to ensure traffic was restored and that survivors were receiving proper medical care, according to a statement issued by the governor’s office on Facebook.

Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. Speeding, bad roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws are the main reasons behind most of the crashes.

Malaysia bans social media accounts for children under 16 but questions remain

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from having social media accounts, joining a growing global effort to tighten safety protections. Not all families approved, and critics raised concerns about data protection and potential surveillance. Social media platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, must implement age-verification systems and block users under 16 from creating accounts. Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said age verification for existing users will be rolled out over the next six months. Users identified as under 16 will have a month to download or transfer data, including photos and videos, before restrictions or other actions are applied. Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million). Parents whose children manage to bypass the law will not be penalized.
Read Next Story