The multi-car pileup in the Beheira region was reportedly caused by an oil leak.

At least 32 people have been killed in a multi-car pileup on a highway in Egypt’s Beheira governorate, according to authorities.

More than 60 people were also reported injured in the road accident on Saturday, Egypt’s health ministry said.

The collision took place in morning fog when a passenger bus on its way to Cairo slammed into a parked vehicle on the highway linking the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, according to local media and authorities.

Other cars slammed into the bus, with some catching fire.

The state-run al-Ahram newspaper said there was “a horrific collision on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road near Wadi al-Natroun”, about 160km (100 miles) north of Cairo.

Images posted on social media showed an overturned truck lying across the fast lane on charred tarmac.

Further on is at least one bus and a minibus, both largely gutted by fire, as well as many cars, some still in flames.

Crowds of people can be seen standing by the road, gazing at the crash site alongside queues of cars as thick black smoke billows into the air.

Ambulances rushed to the scene to transfer the injured to hospital.

Al-Ahram quoted police sources as saying an oil leak from one vehicle caused the collision with some of the vehicles then catching fire.

It reported that 29 vehicles were part of the crash, and six, including a passenger bus, were gutted by fire. It also said “at least 18” people were burned in the accident.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned of heavy fog on highways a day earlier, according to local reports.

Fatal road crashes are relatively common in Egypt. Official figures say 7,000 people were killed in road accidents in 2021. The accidents are often blamed on reckless driving and poor road conditions.

In recent years, Egypt has built a network of new routes aimed at improving the overall quality of its roads.