ABU ZINEMA, EGYPT - AT least nine people were killed and 29 injured when a coach carrying Europeans and North Americans overturned and caught fire in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Thursday, a security official said.

The coach, carrying 40 people, was travelling from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo when it left the road, hit a concrete barrier, rolled over and burst into flames about 70km south of Suez.

Three of the dead were burnt beyond recognition. An AFP photographer at the scene in Abu Zinema said the mangled wreck was lying right side up in the rocky landscape after being completely gutted by a raging fire.

One of the coach's wheels lay a dozen metres from the wreck, and skid marks were visible where the coach left the road on a tight bend.

The Egyptian security official said eight Russians and one of two Egyptian drivers had died.

But state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted reports that two Russians were among the dead, while the foreign ministry said there were none, and that 16 Russians had been hurt. The Egyptian source spoke of only 14 injuries.

In Kiev, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said one Ukrainian woman had died while in Bucharest reports said that a 41-year-old Romanian woman had been killed.

Some of the casualties were taken to Suez hospital, where an official said by telephone that two Britons were 'in a serious condition'. In Cairo, a British embassy spokeswoman confirmed that two Britons had been hurt, but added that their injuries were not life threatening.

The Canadian embassy in Cairo said it knew of two injured Canadians.

All tour buses in Egypt have at least one armed policeman on board.

The coach was owned by Azure Travel, Egypt's official Mena news agency said, adding that the accident occurred at about 6am (0300 GMT) as the vehicle was negotiating a sharp bend.

Security and traffic officials, civil defence troops and ambulances all rushed to the scene, Mena added.

Other casualties were taken to hospitals near Sharm, where police prevented journalists and photographers from entering.

Three were in a serious condition and one later died in the hospital, the official said, adding that a Canadian woman also had to have a hand amputated.

Each year about 6,000 people die and 30,000 are hurt in road accidents in Egypt. In March, 23 people were killed when two trucks collided head on.

In February, 29 people were killed in a pile-up on a road south of Cairo in an accident blamed on fog.

Traffic regulations in Egypt are often badly enforced and vehicles poorly maintained. Many coastal and desert roads allow for high speeds, and accidents caused by reckless overtaking are frequent. -- AFP