Eleven dead in crash after wedding shopping in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Eleven members of an extended family were killed in Egypt on Saturday in a traffic accident while returning home from shopping for furniture for a couple about to be married, a security source said.

He said that 16 other people traveling in two minibuses were injured when a truck traveling at high speed in the opposite direction strayed into their lane and crashed head-on with the first vehicle, causing the second to plough into it.

All the dead were members of one extended family from the Nile Delta town of Dekhila who were heading home from Cairo after shopping for furniture for the couple, the source added.

The couple were riding in a truck carrying the furniture and were unharmed.

The inured were taken to a hospital in Tukh, Qalyubia province, where the accident took place.

Reckless driving, lax traffic rules and poor road conditions cause many road crashes in Egypt. A series of road and rail accidents over the past few years triggered a public outcry over the government's handling of road and transport safety.

Parliament has been discussing amending Egypt's traffic laws to deal with the high rate of crashes.

(Writing by Aziz El-Kaissouni; editing by Sami Aboudi)