At least eight people were killed and eight others wounded on early Saturday when a train hit a truck in the southern Aswan province, nearly 900 km far from the Egyptian capital Cairo, the health ministry reported.

The train en route to Cairo was derailed and crashed the truck, the ministry said in a statement.

Five of the wounded people are in serious conditions.

Meanwhile, the transportation ministry said the truck has broken into a blocked barrier while the train was coming from Aswan to Cairo.

All the victims are passengers of the truck.

Nearly 12,000 were killed every year in Egypt in road and train accidents, according to the World Health Organization.

Lack of highway monitoring systems, poor road maintenance and negligence of traffic rules are behind the high rate of road accidents in Egypt.

Source: XINHUA