At least 19 people have died and another 30 people have been injured after a car crash involving several cars in Cairo set off caused an explosion.
Four cars collided on Sunday night, causing the blast outside the country’s National Cancer Institute, the health ministry said in a statement.
It happened when a car driving against traffic collided with another three vehicles, the interior ministry said in a separate statement.
An investigation has been launched into the incident.
It is unclear why the crash caused such a large explosion and if all the occupants of the vehicles involved died in the collision.
The cancer hospital was partially evacuated after the crash, and there were reports of damage to the third floor of the building.
Abdel-Rahman Mohamed, a security worker at a bank opposite the facility, said, “We heard an explosion and… the bank entrance glass was shattered everywhere.”
Those hurt in the explosion were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Road accidents are commonplace in Egypt. Official statistics show that there were 8,000 crashes in the country in 2018, with 3,000 people killed and 12,000 hurt in the collisions.
