Truck's plunge into Assuit canal kills 30 children

Thirty children died in Assuit when the truck they were riding plunged into a deep canal, a security source said yesterday. He added the children were on their way to a cotton field in Sahel Selim village.

Frogmen recovered 6 bodies from the canal and they were still searching for more. Police arrested the truck driver, who had escaped right after the accident, and they were questioning him. The driver claimed he lost control of vehicle.

An eye witness said that the truck, loaded with children, was passing through a road by Al Shameiya chancellery and fell into the water, as the driver jumped out of it, Al Wafd daily said today.

28 children aged between 12 and 17 were killed last month in a similar incident near the town of Basiyoun in Kafr El Shiek.