3 killed in Egyptian university fire

Three students were killed and dozens injured Saturday when a fire broke inside a university campus building in Egypt's Nile Delta, police and hospital officials said.

The blaze erupted in a lecture hall at Al-Azhar University in the Delta town of Zagazig, sending hundreds of students fleeing in panic, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Classes at many Egyptian universities convene on Saturdays.

Three students died in the fire and dozens were injured in a stampede, said Khaled el-Banna, the head of emergency at the Zagazig public hospital. He said hospital and other officials were still trying to assess how many people were injured and the severity of their injuries.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire. Zagazig is 50 miles northeast of Cairo.