At least nine people were killed and 18 others injured on Saturday when a microbus overturned on a highway in Upper Egypt's province of Minya, said the Egyptian authorities.

"The accident took place in the early hours of Saturday as a result of excessive speeding, which led to the explosion of the front tire of the microbus and caused it to overturn several times," Minya Governor Osama Al-Qady told Xinhua.

The microbus carrying 27 passengers, including 13 children, was coming from Sohag province in Upper Egypt, crossing Minya and heading to the capital Cairo through the desert road, the governor said.

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Fifteen ambulances were sent to the scene after the incident, said the governor, adding that ten of the 18 injured passengers had been discharged from the hospital.

Road accidents in Egypt claim thousands of lives every year. Earlier in August, a collision between a microbus and a truck in Sohag left 17 people dead.

Over the past few years, the country has been upgrading its road network, building new roads and bridges, and repairing old ones to reduce traffic accidents