Two died and 18 were injured in the overturn of a bus transporting police conscripts in the southern province of Minya, according to Egypt's state news agency MENA.

The bus was overturned after a collision with a farm tractor, MENA said.

Around 12,000 people die each year in road accidents in Egypt, common because of badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws, according to a 2012 World Health Organisation report.

The conscripts were on their way to the southern town of Dalga, 435 kilometres south of Cairo, according to a local security official. Security was strengthened in the Upper Egypt village after it was stormed mid-September by the army and the police to put an end to Islamist control of the city. Over 50 alleged radical Islamists were arrested in the operation.

Dalga has seen a surge in sectarian strife since former president Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military 3 July, following mass protests calling for his departure.