At least eight people died Friday morning in a road accident involving multiple vehicles near the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, a health ministry spokesperson has said.

Thirty one others were wounded in the accident, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar told Ahram Online.

At least 14 ambulances rushed to the scene. Those injured were ferried to hospitals in Ismailia and 10th of Ramadan City in Sharqiya, Ghaffar said.

Egypt is notorious for its poor road safety record where roadways are poorly maintained and traffic regulations are loosely enforced.

Al-Ahram Arabic news website said the accident occurred when a bus carrying workers to a plant in 10th of Ramadan City collided with a truck and another private car.

The accident is the latest in near daily crashes that claim the lives of about 12,000 people in Egypt every year, according to 2012 figures issued by the World Health Organisation.

A recent government report said that 100,000 car accidents took place in Egypt from 2008 to 2012, with 33,000 killed and another 150,000 injured.

On Thursday, three people were killed and four injured in a traffic accident in Beheira, in the Nile Delta.

In November, 18 people were killed when a bus packed with high school students burst into flames after it collided with three other vehicles in Lower Egypt, prompting the government to introduce amendments to a traffic law that set harsher penalties for traffic violations.