16 dead in road accidents caused by bad weather

As a wave of heavy rain and storms engulfed Upper Egypt and the Red Sea on Sunday, several road accidents caused by the bad weather left 16 people dead and many more injured in southern Egypt.

The Health Ministry announced that eight died and 29 others were injured when a bus turned over on the Zaafarana road in Hurghada at dawn on Sunday. The head of the Red Sea ambulance service stated that rain had caused the accident.

State-owned newspaper Al-Ahram also reported the death of eight members of one family in Minya when a microbus turned over into a canal.

MENA news agency also reported that a bus capsized in Aswan, leaving 32 injured who were transported to hospital.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had warned that Sunday would witness the peak of a wave of unstable weather that first broke out last week.

Four ports were closed on Sunday morning and reopened later in the day due to high waves and bad visibility caused by the weather, MENA reported.

MENA also reported that the wave of thunderstorms and heavy rains in Upper Egyptian governorates Assiut and Sohag, usually known for their warm weather, have not been seen in the last 10 years. The weather led to flooding, power cuts and traffic jams in both governorates.

Floods have also occurred in Saint Catherine, South Sinai, causing a partial collapse of Al Sodoud Mountain, and threatening to damage the city itself, MENA reported.

Interim President Adly Mansour requested on Sunday a report from Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal about the falling in of the ceiling in the arrival hall at Hurghada International Airport earlier in the day.

The incident was reportedly due to heavy rain, privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm daily newspaper said. Mansour instructed the minister to start maintenance work immediately. 

Head of the international airport General Saddek al-Shora said earlier today that pieces of the gypsum board, not the cement ceiling, fell due to heavy rain. Shora added that work inside the airport was not disrupted and that power cuts are a preventive measure during bad weather.