Fourteen people were injured late Saturday when a microbus crashed into a taxi on a Red Sea highway, state news agency MENA reported.

The accident took place near Safaga, on Egypt's Red Sea Coast, some 50 kilometres south of Hurghada.

Eight ambulances rushed to the scene and some of the injured were transferred to hospitals in Hurghada.

Egypt is notorious for its poor road safety record. Near daily traffic accidents, often caused by poorly maintained roads and loosely enforced traffic regulations, claim thousands of lives yearly.

Last week, 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 10 female university students were killed in a collision in Sohag, in Upper Egypt.