Eight died and eight others were injured when a train collided with a truck in the early hours of Saturday in Upper Egypt’s Aswan, a health ministry spokesman told MENA news agency.

The truck was loaded with people and was crossing the railway line when the incident took place.

The train derailed with the impact of the collision.

Three of the wounded have mild injuries while five others are in critical condition.

Egypt's railway system is operated manually, with employees responsible for managing the opening of crossings by communicating with drivers, a practice that has proved at times unsafe and unreliable.