Egypt: Fifteen Egyptian soldiers have died and 40 have been injured after their bus collided with a lorry.

The accident happened on the el-Alamein motorway linking Cairo with the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

They were reportedly travelling home to join their families for holidays during the holy month of Ramadan.

Some 12,000 people die on Egypt's roads each year, says the World Health Organization. Poor road conditions and lax traffic law enforcement are blamed.

In October, 21 members of the country's security forces died in a vehicle accident in the Sinai peninsula, close to the Israeli border.

Last November, the transport minister resigned after 50 children aged four to six died when their school bus was hit by a train near Manfalut, 350km south of Cairo.

-BBC