Three dead, 14 injured in Minya bus accident carrying Sunday School children

Watani

5 days ago

A bus carrying a group Sunday School children from Minya overturned on 30 July, killing three young women and injuring 14 among whom are seven children.
The children, aged between 7 and 13, and their supervisors were among the congregation of the church of the Holy Virgin and Amir Tadros (St Theodore) in the village of Daqouaf in Matai, Minya, some 250km south of Cairo. The village is administratively affiliated to Samalout, and is under the jurisdiction of Matai Diocese.
The bus had picked up the children from their church and was heading southeast to Hurghada on the Red Sea for a three-day beach holiday.
According to Fr Antonious Shukry, priest of the church in Daqouaf, the bus had been barely one hour on its way down the eastern desert road when the accident occurred. Eyewitnesses said it made a violent crash into a concrete fence on the side of the road. Fr Antonious said that a second bus carrying more passengers from the church to the same destination overtook the overturned bus. Its passengers quickly informed those at the church and notified the police. 'We rushed to the scene of the accident, then to the Minya hospital where the dead and injured had already been moved' he said. The second bus
had helped the police and ambulance service move the injured to hospital.
The bodies of the dead, three 19-year-old women who served in the church, were moved to the hospital morgue for forensic investigation. Their names: Raymonda Shukry, Mirna Yacoub, and Dina Ashraf. They were among those supervising the children on the bus.
Health sources said that the 14 injured are in stable conditions, and have been discharged from hospital after receiving the necessary treatment.
The prosecution is conducting investigations into the cause and conditions of the crash.
Anba Gawargios, Bishop of Matai, presided over the funeral service for the three young women who had lost their lives. Addressing a deeply grieved congregation, the tearful bishop praised the young women as 'faithful servants who had shouldered their responsibility until the last minutes of their lives.' He prayed for peace for their souls, comfort for their families and friends; and speedy recovery for the injured. Comments
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