Egypt’s PM in Red Sea after floods kill 18

Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail visited the Red Sea governorate on Saturday to check damages caused by deadly rain floods that killed at least 18 people and 47 injured.

The floods were caused by heavy rains in several towns in Upper Egypt and along the Red Sea coast on Wednesday and Thursday, severally affecting impoverished areas with poor infrastructure.

The prime minister took a tour of the places affected by the flood in the town of Ras Gharib -150 kilometers north of Hurghada - and listened to explanations by the governor on how the affected areas would be rebuilt and what relief efforts are being accorded to victims, according to local daily Ahram Online.

Six others were also killed and 24 others wounded early on Friday when two buses and three other vehicles overturned in floods on a highway in the governorate of Sohag, which lies some 500 km south of Cairo, the health ministry said.

Schools in the coastal town, which is around 150 km north of Hurghada, have been indefinitely suspended due to the flooding.

(With AFP)