Suez Canal boat crash leaves 1 dead, 6 rescued

CAIRO - A boat crash in Egypt's Suez Canal on Saturday left one crew member dead while the other six were rescued, a local TV channel reported, citing the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman.

They were the crew of the SCA tugboat that sank after it collided with a Hong Kong-flagged tanker passing through the maritime artery.

In a separate statement, SCA chairman Osama Rabie said the rescued individuals were taken to a nearby hospital and that their health conditions are stable.

He added that the sunken tugboat had been located and the salvage operations would start in a few hours.

Earlier on Saturday, the SCA said holes left by the crash led to the sinking of the tugboat.

The 230-meter-long tanker, which came from Singapore en route to the United States, is now mooring at nearby Port Said until related procedures are finished.

The Suez Canal is one of Egypt's main sources of national income and hard currency.

Connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, the man-made waterway is a major global trade route. Shipment passing through it amounted to some 12 percent of the world trade volume.