Associated Press

EL ARISH: Four Israeli tourists and their Egyptian driver were injured Friday when their minibus overturned in the Sinai peninsula, police and hospital officials said.

The minibus was driving from the resort of Taba on the Gulf of Aqaba to Cairo, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to give press statements.

The driver and one of the Israelis were quickly released from Taba Hospital, and the other three Israelis were still being treated but were in stable condition, Said Eissa, a doctor at the hospital, said.

The police official said that the accident took place outside Taba, when the minibus s front tire burst. The injured Israelis included two men and two women.

Serious road accidents are common in Egypt and tend to be blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and a lack of respect for traffic regulations.

Last August, a bus carrying tourists overturned in Sinai, killing 12 Israelis and an Egyptian.