A horrific road crash in northern Egypt has left at least 18 people dead, many of them young children aged 13 and 14, according to a local medical source. The fatal collision involved two pick-up trucks carrying agricultural day laborers in the Dawawis area of the Ismailia governorate.
Egypt’s health ministry reported that the incident resulted in 47 total casualties, including roughly 30 individuals who sustained injuries. The workers, hailing primarily from two villages within the Sharqiya governorate in the Nile Delta, were traveling to work on a farm in Ismailia when the crash occurred, a local security source confirmed.
A local medical source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, shared details about the victims.
“Most of the dead are children 13 and 14 years old,” the source told AFP.
Local media outlet Al-Masry Al-Youm separately reported that the youngest victim involved in the crash was just 10 years old.
Egyptian authorities have launched an investigation to establish the cause of the collision, while emergency services transferred the injured to nearby hospitals for treatment.
The disaster highlights the ongoing perils faced by informal and child laborers across the country. Overcrowded pick-up trucks remain a common yet hazardous means of transportation for millions of Egyptian day workers. Official statistics indicate that at least 1.3 million minors participate in child labor across Egypt, frequently exposing them to commuter accidents.
Data from the International Labour Organization shows that informal labor represents nearly 67 percent of total employment in Egypt, dominating virtually the entire agricultural sector. Between 8 and 13 million people work as irregular day laborers, mainly in agriculture, construction, and manufacturing, where they operate with minimal wage and safety protections.
