CAIRO, May 1, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Eight child workers were killed in northern Egypt on Saturday when the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a canal in the Nile Delta, a local official said.

The victims of the dawn accident worked "picking potatoes", said the official from Itay al-Baroud in poverty-stricken Beheira province where the crash took place.

They would go to school by day and work in the fields at night to help their families, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the driver survived and has been detained for questioning.

Local media said those killed were aged between 12 and 15.

Egyptian law allows children 15 and older to work. Seasonal work by children from the age of 13 is tolerated.

Deadly road accidents are common in Egypt, where many roads are in disrepair and traffic regulations often ignored.

Some 7,000 people died in road accidents in the country in 2020, according to official figures.