Cairo/IBNS/UNI: At least 32 people were killed and 63 others injured on Saturday in multiple vehicle collisions on a desert road near Egypt's Beheira governorate, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

Security investigations showed the accident was caused by an oil leak from a car traveling on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road near Beheira.

The ministry said in follow-up statements that multiple cars caught on fire as they collided with a bus transporting passengers.

"The accident involved 64 vehicles in total, including 29 cars that were charred," the state-run Ahram newspaper quoted a security source at the scene as saying.

The ministry said it had sent 20 ambulances to rescue the wounded, noting that three of them received first aid on the spot.

It added that the other 60 injured had been transferred to nearby hospitals, while Ahram confirmed most of those killed in the tragic accident were children, citing medics.

Ahram noted that a criminal investigation into the tragedy has been ordered.

Road accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt as a result of speeding, poor maintenance of roads, and lax enforcement of traffic laws.

Over the past few years, Egypt has upgraded its road network to reduce traffic accidents.