At least 32 dead in major traffic accident in Egypt

A collision involving a passenger bus and several cars on a highway in Egypt killed 32 people on Saturday, the country's Health Ministry said.

Sixty-three others were injured in the accident that happened on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, the ministry added in an online statement.

Earlier Saturday, state-run newspaper al-Ahram reported that investigations revealed an oil leak from a passing car led to a collision among a large number of vehicles with several of them catching fire.

Most of the dead bodies were charred, the report said.

Twenty-nine cars were gutted and 35 others damaged in the crash, al-Ahram quoted a security source as saying.

According to the privately owned newspaper al-Masry al-Youm, the tragedy was due to an oil leak and thick fog on the road.

Images carried by some Egyptian media showed wreckage of vehicles in flames as the site of the accident was shrouded in black smoke.

Fatal road crashes are relatively common in Egypt. They are often blamed on reckless driving and poor road conditions.

In recent years, Egypt has built a network of new routes, aimed at improving the overall quality of the roads.