Nine Die As Egypt Tourist Bus Bursts Into Flames

A tourist bus in Egypt burst into flames after rolling off a desert highway embankment yesterday, killing nine people and injuring about 30, including a number of British travelers.

The bus, which was carrying about 40 people, overturned on the Sinai peninsula when it was traveling from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik to Cairo at around 6am local time.

Passengers described how they were forced to jump from the vehicle after it flipped over about 40 miles south-east of the Suez canal. Among the injured were Russians, Romanians, Canadians, Italians, Egyptians and Ukrainians, many of whom suffered burns. They were taken to hospitals near Sharm. One Romanian and one Russian were believed to be among the dead.

Local officials said four Britons were injured but the Foreign Office said it was still trying to find out the exact number. "Our honorary consul in Sharm el-Sheik is touring the hospitals to which the injured have been taken," it said.

At least two Britons had been on the bus, it said, and they had been visited in hospital by consular staff. Neither had been seriously hurt.

The driver of the bus described how he lost control of the vehicle on a sharp curve at Abu Zenima. Reports have suggested the incident was caused by a tire bursting.

Dr Said Issa, head of emergency services in the Sinai, said many of the victims suffered severe burns.

Diana Argentieri, an Italian, said the bus exploded moments after she got away from the wreckage. "The bus was going very fast and the road was in bad condition. We were immediately scared by the speed," she said. Most of the passengers had been sleeping.

"When we woke up the bus was turning upside-down. After that, it was hell," she told the Associated Press from hospital. "It all seems like a nightmare." The bus rolled off the road, down an incline and on to a rocky spur. As she tried to get out, "there was a person on the floor, lying still, and other people bleeding. We wanted to go back in to see if there was still somebody alive, but the bus was on fire."

She had to jump more than three meters to avoid the flames. "We had no choice, so we plucked up our courage and jumped. Immediately after that the bus exploded."

Egypt's official news agency Mena said the bus was owned by a company called Azure Travel.

Frances Tuke, a spokeswoman for the UK travel organization Abta, said: "We understand this was a privately-sold coach trip and was not part of any UK tour operator program."

The Foreign Office warns British tourists in travel advice that road accidents are common because of poor maintenance of vehicles and speeding drivers.

Last month 23 people were killed when two trucks collided head-on. There have been five serious bus crashes in Egypt since the beginning of 2006, in which 95 people have been killed.