Egyptian ship carrying 1,300 sinks in Red Sea

[lawyerlee]

Dozens of Bodies From Egyptian Ship Found (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_ship_sinks&printer=1;_ylt=Ag9TL6YbuV3ng5uBcl6bXbcUewgF;_ylu=X 3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-)

By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer

An Egyptian passenger ship carrying about 1,300 people sank in the Red Sea overnight, and rescue ships arriving at the scene Friday pulled dozens of bodies from the water, an official said. At least 12 survivors were rescued.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Embassy told the British Broadcasting Corp. that "dozens of bodies of victims" had been pulled from the choppy waters.

The 35-year-old ship, Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98, went down 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, the head of the Egyptian Maritime Authority, Mahfouz Taha Marzouk, told The Associated Press.

Four rescue ships at the scene found 15 bodies and rescued 12 survivors, he said.

How horrible. :( I can't imagine what happened.

[lawyergirl25]

"At least 12 survivors"? Out of 1,300? :(

[gayle]

OMG that is awful. Is there any new info on what might have happened?

[lawyerlee]

Ferry with 1,300 sinks, bodies found (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11157659/)
No SOS was sent from Egyptian ship crossing Red Sea from Saudi Arabia
MSNBC News

Updated: 8:26 a.m. ET Feb. 3, 2006

CAIRO, Egypt - An Egyptian ferry carrying around 1,300 people sank in the Red Sea overnight and while 12 people have been rescued, dozens of bodies were recovered and fears are that hundreds perished.

“Dozens of bodies were picked up from the sea ... they were from the ferry,” a police source at the port of Safaga said.

The 35-year-old ship, the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98, sank 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada.

The cause was not immediately known, but there were high winds and a sandstorm overnight on Saudi Arabia’s west coast, where the ship departed from Thursday evening.

[LyLMyssChaos]

How terrible!!! I can't imagine how there were only 12 survivors!

[msnicolea]

How tragic--I hope they find more survivors--maybe other boats were in the area and picked up some, or SOMETHING--I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been.

[mrstim]

Anyone else suddenly get this feeling of being in the Twilight Zone?? I saw it on CBS.com and instantly thought "whoa, like the Titanic!" Yes, I know the Titanic sunk because of an iceberg, but I just thought How could this happen!

So horrible - I hope they can find more survivors!

[lawyergirl25]

I just heard on the radio that at least 186 were able to escape, but they are saying that over 1,000 have died. I will try to find an online news report to back that up.


ETA: This BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4678368.stm) reports at least 300 survivors, with 1,406 on board (1,310 passengers and 96 crew).

[SingleWhiteFemale]

Crews Search for Survivors in Red Sea
By MARIAM FAM, AP

SAFAGA, Egypt (Feb. 3) - An Egyptian ferry carrying about 1,300 people sank in the Red Sea early Friday during bad weather, and rescue ships and helicopters pulled dozens of survivors and bodies from the water. Some 180 escaped on lifeboats, an official said.

Most of the passengers were Egyptian workers returning from their jobs in Saudi Arabia. At least four Saudi and four Egyptian ships were involved in the search effort, arriving about 10 hours after the 35-year-old ferry was believed to have sank.

As darkness descended Friday at the site, some 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, there were fears the death toll could be extremely high. Any survivors still in the Red Sea could go into shock as temperatures fell in the already cold waters, which average in the upper 60s in February.

Egyptian regulations require life jackets on the boat, but implementation of safety procedures are often lax. It was not known if the ship had enough life jackets and whether the passengers put them on when the ship sank.
...
An official at the maritime authority control room in Suez said at least 20 bodies and 30 survivors were pulled from the water. He said about 150 more survivors were still known to be on lifeboats. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.More on AOL, but cannot link as one needs to be an AOL member to view it.

[Asha]

how tragic.

does anyone know if the ship was returning or going to the pilgramage to mecca?

[villanelle75]

does anyone know if the ship was returning or going to the pilgramage to mecca?

I read that while initial reports siad that many of them may have been coming from the Haj which was over a month ago, that probably was not the case.

[laura]

I heard this on the news this morning - so terrible.

[BridalLace]

has anyone heard the latest? the ship was only 20 miles from the shore it had just left when a fire onboard occurred. rather than turn back, the crew pushed on to try to reach its original destination 110 miles away. among other things, survivors have reported:
- lifeboats on board were not put into use
- the captain and crew fled the ship
- women were locked into their cabins
- offers to help from the US and British navies were rejected!

this is an outrage!

ref: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/04/ferry.sat.ap/index.html

[lawyerlee]

this is an outrage!
Yes, it is. :mad: This information puts the tragedy in an entirely different light. How horrible. :(