At least sixteen people were killed in a road crash on a highway south of Cairo Sunday, Egypt's health ministry has said.

Twenty one others were injured in the accident which occurred on a road near the governorate of Beni Suef, about 100 km south of Cairo, health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed told Ahram Online.

The spokesman said those wounded have been sent to local hospitals in Beni Suef.

Initial reports suggest the crash was a result of dense fog.

Photos shared online of the accident show a large number of mangled vehicles, including trucks and trailer trucks.

Separately on Sunday, two people were killed in an accident involving a tuk-tuk (an auto rickshaw) and a truck in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira, Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Sunday's accidents are the latest in thousands of deadly road crashes that take place on a near daily basis in Egypt, which is notorious for poor road safety, badly maintained infrastructure, and loosely enforced traffic regulations.

The country's official statistics agency said in December that over 2800 people were killed in road and train crashes in Egypt in the first half of 2015.