"The incident resulted in the death of 12 Mexicans and Egyptians and the injury of 10 others who have been transferred to hospitals," the ministry said in a statement.
It added that the convoy was made up of four four-wheel drive vehicles and that there would be an investigation into how and why the tourists entered an off-limits area.
Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 after mass protests against his rule.
