CAIRO, Sep 14 (Aswat Masriya) - Joint police and army forces "accidentally" killed a dozen Egyptians and Mexican tourists on Sunday while chasing "terrorists", Egypt's Interior Ministry said in the early hours of Monday.  

The incident left 10 Egyptians and Mexicans injured, the ministry said in a statement. They were hospitalised.

The ministry did not say how many of the deceased were Egyptians and how many were Mexicans. 

Security forces were in pursuit of "terrorists" in al-Wahat area in the western desert, the ministry said. The joint forces accidentally targeted four vehicles which "turned out to belong to a Mexican tourist group."

The group was in a "restricted" area, the ministry said.

It added that a team has been tasked with inspecting the causes and circumstances surrounding the incident, as well as reasons for the group's presence in the prohibited area.