WATANI International
8 March 2009
In the same area where a bus overturned and fell into Ibrahimiya Canal at Mallawi, 280km south of Cairo, killing 65 passengers and injuring 10 a few weeks ago, a microbus last Sunday fell into Ibrahimiya killing nine people and injuring six. The six survivors—one of them was the driver—were moved to Maghagha Hospital where they are being treated for concussion, bruises, and nervous shock. The driver is being placed under arrest.
Search is being conducted for the bodies of the dead; on Friday six bodies were found. The strength of the downstream water current made the search more difficult.
As the search was ongoing, a taxicab carrying two passengers fell into the same canal a few kilometres to the south. The driver and passengers both survived the accident, sustaining minor injuries.
Even though all the witnesses cited loss of control of the driving wheel by the microbus driver as the cause of the first accident, the question which begs an answer is why so many accidents take place in this particular area.
Photo by Rimon Nash’at