CAIRO, Nov 16 (Aswat Masriya) -  The crash of a microbus in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag on Sunday left 17 schoolgirls injured and no deaths, a security official said.

A microbus flipped over and dropped into a canal in Sohag earlier on Sunday, reported state-run news agency MENA, adding that the crash left one killed. 

Ahmed Al-Rawy, Sohag security official, meanwhile denied to Aswat Masriya that any deaths were reported following the crash.

Rawy said that two microbuses crashed into one another, pushing one microbus into the canal. MENA had reported that the accident happened when the driver lost control over the steering wheel due to speeding.

Road accidents are a common occurrence in Egypt, being among the prime causes of death in the Arab world's most populous country.

According to a report released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) in June, the number of car accidents occurring in Egypt in 2013 rose by 0.4 percent when compared to the 2012 figure.

Egypt's cabinet issued on November 5 a new legislation restricting trucks' traffic hours within cities to nighttime after a school bus crash on an agricultural road in Beheira left 18 killed.

The cabinet also approved a draft law submitted by the presidency amending the traffic law in a manner which stipulates harsher penalties for wrong-way driving, driving under influence or exceeding the speed limit.

This is the second deadly road accident to take place in Sohag in the past two weeks.A microbus carrying university students crashed into a truck in Sohag on November 2, leaving at least 10 female students killed.