Ten people were killed and five were injured in a road accident on the Masr – Ismailia highway, east of Cairo, when a truck hit a microbus Saturday night.

Police Captain Mohamed El-Sherbiny, supervisor of the General Traffic Administration operation room, told privately-owned channel ONTV Live on Sunday that the injured were transferred to the hospital.

He also added that accident site, located near Tenth of Ramadan city of Sharqiya governorate, has been cleared of the debris for traffic.

Traffic accidents, which the government's census agency says claim 18 lives a day, are commonplace in Egypt due to badly maintained roads and railways and poorly enforced traffic laws. Egyptians have often complained that successive governments have done little to uphold the minimum safety standards to prevent frequent accidents.

According to a 2012 report by the World Health Organisation, road accidents kill about 12,000 people in Egypt every year.

Last Tuesday, at least 19 people were killed and 17 others wounded in an accident involving two microbuses in Luxor, southern Egypt.

Al-Ahram Arabic news website said a car travelling in the wrong direction caused the crash.