Nine people were killed and nine injured in a deadly car accident on the Sohag-Red Sea highway in Upper Egypt late Saturday.

The fatal accident took place after a truck collided with a microbus at full speed, killing a number of passengers in the minibus.

The injured were transferred to a number of hositals for treatment, including Sohag General Hospital, Sohag Educational Hospital, and Akhmim Central Hospital. 

Road accidents in Egypt dropped 41.1 percent to record 8,480 accidents in 2018, down from 14,403 accidents in 2014, an infograph of the Egyptian cabinet showed earlier this month.

Deaths due to accidents declined 50.5 percent from 2014 to 2018, with 3,087 deaths in 2018, down from 6,236 in 2014.

Deadly road accidents take place on a daily basis in Egypt due to poor road safety, badly maintained infrastructure, and loosely enforced traffic regulations.

However, Egypt has allocated millions of pounds to developing and expanding road networks in recent years.

In 2017, the government passed a comprehensive traffic law to crack down on violators and enhance safety and security.

The law will go into effect in 2020