A bus carrying Egyptian and Jordanian passengers overturned on Wednesday morning on a desert highway in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, killing 22 people and injuring 28 others. The crash occurred near the Al-Sa'da area on the road between Dahab and Nuweiba, two coastal towns popular with tourists on the Gulf of Aqaba in the eastern Sinai. Egypt's health ministry dispatched 20 ambulances to the scene, with the injured transferred to three hospitals — including Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital, Saint Catherine Hospital, and Al-Firuz Hospital. Egypt's health minister ordered hospitals across the region to raise their state of readiness and ensure sufficient medical staff, supplies, and blood reserves.
The bus, which carried 43 passengers including 22 Jordanian nationals, was travelling from Cairo to the Jordanian capital Amman via the Nuweiba port, from which it was due to cross the Gulf of Aqaba by sea to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. The journey was a regular passenger service, not a tourist excursion. Egyptian and Jordanian sources indicate the bus overturned after a tyre blowout caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the cause. Jordan's foreign ministry confirmed that Jordanian nationals were among the dead, and a team from the Jordanian embassy in Cairo travelled to Nuweiba to assist the injured and arrange for the repatriation of the bodies.
The crash is the latest in a long series of deadly road accidents in Egypt. Authorities recorded nearly 6,000 road fatalities in 2025 alone, with incidents frequently attributed to reckless driving, poor vehicle maintenance, and inconsistent law enforcement. In recent months, a collision between two trucks transporting workers in Ismailia — a city east of Cairo — killed 18 people, and a crash near Beni Suef, south of Cairo, left 21 dead. Egypt's Sinai peninsula, a triangular landmass connecting Africa to Asia, is a major transit route between Egypt and Jordan, as well as a tourist destination known for its beaches and mountain scenery.