Egypt mourns 19 girls killed in road crash amid growing outcry over highway safety

Daily News Egypt

a day ago

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has directed the government to provide immediate compensation of EGP 100,000 (approximately $2,100) for each of the 19 victims killed in a devastating road crash in Monufeya, and EGP 25,000 for each of the injured. The victims—mostly teenage girls and young women—were day labourers commuting to work in the Nile Delta.
The president also instructed authorities to intensify road maintenance efforts across the country, particularly on the regional ring road, where the accident occurred. He called for the removal of roadway hazards, clearer signage in repair zones, and stricter enforcement of speed limits.
The crash, which occurred early Friday, involved a speeding heavy truck that collided with a microbus carrying female workers from the village of Kafr El-Sanabsa. All 18 girls onboard and the microbus driver were killed, while three others sustained injuries. The victims, described in state media as 'martyrs of livelihood,' were en route to their jobs when the tragedy struck.
The force of the collision destroyed both vehicles. Emergency responders quickly arrived at the scene, transferring bodies and survivors to hospitals in Quesna, El-Bagour, Ashmoun, and Shebin El-Kom.
The incident has plunged Kafr El-Sanabsa into mourning. Mass funerals were held for the young women, some of whom were from the same family. Many had left school to support their households and were their families' main providers. Images of grieving relatives and rows of coffins spread across social media, prompting widespread sorrow and renewed anger over Egypt's persistent road safety challenges.
Security sources confirmed that the truck driver was arrested. The public prosecution has launched a broad investigation, ordering forensic examinations and technical assessments of the vehicles and the road segment. Preliminary findings cited excessive speeding and poor road conditions—specifically the absence of lighting, barriers, and emergency services—as contributing factors.
Despite the scale of the tragedy, the Ministry of Transport has yet to release an official statement. On the same day, Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir was in Istanbul attending the Global Transport Connectivity Forum, where he spoke of Egypt's 'unprecedented infrastructure renaissance' and highlighted over EGP 2trn in investments across roads, bridges, railways, ports, and electric transport systems.
The ministry's silence drew criticism from the public and media observers, who cited a growing disconnect between government narratives of modernisation and on-the-ground realities. Residents of Kafr El-Sanabsa voiced frustration over the deteriorating state of the Regional Ring Road—a flagship project inaugurated in 2018 with a reported cost of EGP 9bn (around $190m).
Originally designed to ease congestion on older highways and link Greater Cairo to Upper and Lower Egypt, the ring road has since fallen into disrepair in areas such as Monufeya. According to taxi drivers and former Roads and Bridges Authority engineers, large sections suffer from pavement cracks, ground subsidence, and neglected maintenance. The road, they say, has become a 'corridor of death.'
According to Egypt's official statistics agency (CAPMAS), 5,260 people were killed in road accidents in 2024, with over 76,000 injuries—a 7.5% increase from the previous year. Daqahleya Governorate recorded the highest number of road injuries nationwide.
As national grief grows, the Ashmoun crash has reignited debate over road safety, infrastructure oversight, and the lived cost of economic hardship for Egypt's working poor—particularly young women who bear the burden of supporting their families on dangerous commutes.