Clashes between microbus drivers left one dead and 48 injured on Saturday night, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior.

Ten of the wounded remain in a serious condition after being shot by pellets and live rounds. The rest of the injured have been discharged from hospital.

An argument in Cairo’s Hadayek El-Kobba district over who of the drivers would transport passengers developed into a melee that resulted in the destruction of a bus, several cars and a shop front.

“These clashes have nothing to do with the parliamentary elections. It was just a fight between microbus drivers,” Interior Minister Mansour El-Eissawy said in a television interview late on Saturday.

Persistent security problems have threatened to derail People’s Assembly elections due to start on Monday in several governorates, including Cairo and Alexandria.

El-Eissawy has been widely criticised for failing to restore order following his appointment in March as the country struggles to recover from the aftermath of January’s revolution that ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year reign.