A bus fell into a canal in the Nile Delta in Egypt, killing 21 people

CAIRO (AP) — A bus plunged into a canal in Egypt’s Nile Delta region on Saturday, killing at least 21 people, the country’s health ministry said.

Dr. Sheriff Makin, a health ministry spokesman, said three children were among the dead.

The ministry said in a statement that the accident happened in Dakahlia province, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo. Other injured passengers were taken to a local hospital.

The head of police investigations in the province, Brig. Mohamed Abdel Hadi said the driver may have lost control of the vehicle.

Fatal road accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a low level of road safety. Accidents and collisions are mainly caused by speeding, bad roads or failure to obey traffic rules.

In July, a passenger bus crashed into a parked truck and trailer on a highway in the southern province of Minya, killing 23 people and injuring 30 others. In October, a truck crashed into a minibus in Dakahlia, killing at least 10 people, authorities said.