At least one person has been killed and two others injured in a road crash on a highway in Upper Egypt, Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website reported.
The collision, involving two vehicles and a truck, took place late on Saturday near the southern part of Beni Suef, some 110 km (68 miles) south of Cairo.
The accident is the latest in near daily road crashes which claim thousands of lives yearly.
Eyewitnesses said at least five people went missing after one of the vehicles plunged into an agriculture canal following the collision.
Marine rescue workers are searching for the victims.
Egypt is notorious for its poor road safety record where roadways are poorly maintained and traffic regulations are loosely enforced.
On 5 November, 18 people were killed when a bus packed with high school students collided with three other vehicles in Lower Egypt, prompting the government to introduce amendments to a traffic law that set harsher punishments for traffic violations.
Days earlier, at least ten female university students were killed in a collision in Sohag, in Upper Egypt.
The Egyptian government on Saturday began enforcing new restriction on hours of operation for tractor trailers – blamed for 40 percent of traffic accidents – to seven hours from 11 pm to 6 am.
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