CAIRO - Ten people were killed and another one injured in an illegal excavation operation in a town in Egypt's southern Qena governorate, a local security official told Xinhua on Sunday.

Sahah Mazeed, director of Qena's security department, said that 10 thieves died in a well collapse while they were searching for monuments in the Nagaa Hammadi region.

The civil defense forces have retrieved the bodies, and investigations are underway.