At least seven people were killed and seven others injured on Friday after a minibus collided with a heavy truck in northern Egypt's Behaira province, said a source from Egyptian ambulance authority.

The minibus hit the truck from behind when the minibus driver changed his course from left to right in the same lane to take a U-turn. There were 14 people on the minibus when the accident occurred, said the source who required anonymity.

Ambulances were sent to the scene of the accident on the Cairo-Alexandria road and the injured people were transferred to a nearby hospital, he said.

In Egypt, traffic accidents are common and claim thousands of lives every year. Most of the accidents are caused by speeding, poor maintenance of roads, and lax enforcement of traffic laws.

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