Home>News Center>World
         
 

Flood on car deck sank Egyptian ferry: officer
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-05 20:45

An officer from the Egyptian ferry which sank in the Red Sea said on Sunday the car deck had flooded as crew battled a fire.


Egyptian survivors of a ferry accident arrive at the Red Sea port of Hurghada February 4, 2006 after they were rescued. Hopes of finding nearly 900 missing people after the sinking of an Egyptian ferry faded on Saturday as the search for them entered a second day. [Reuters]

About 800 people are still missing from the ferry Al Salam 98, which caught fire on Thursday on a trip from Duba in Saudi Arabia to Safaga on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. Rescuers have brought ashore some 400 survivors and 195 dead bodies.

Another seven people were rescued on Saturday evening, the state news agency MENA said. Search operations continued on Sunday but the chances of finding more survivors were diminishing, officials said.

Rani Kamal, third officer on the ship, told the Arabic news channel Al Arabiya from a Saudi hospital the car deck had flooded during the firefighting operation, making the ship list. Government officials said earlier the blaze began in a vehicle.

"The ferry sank due to firefighting operations. Water flooded the garage (car deck), which is where the fire started, and it pooled on one side," he said.

"Then the water increased and increased until the ship listed sharply. It listed five, then 10 degrees and then 15 and then 25 degrees and that was the beginning of the end," added Kamal, who was rescued from a dinghy by Saudi coastguards.

He did not explain further. Passengers have also reported both a fire below decks and serious listing.

The captain of the ship, Sayed Omar, is unaccounted for. The second officer, who has been rescued, has spoken to the authorities but not to the media.

Passengers accused the captain and crew of negligence, saying Omar abandoned the ship before making sure all the passengers had left the vessel. They said crew prevented them from wearing lifejackets and did not get them into lifeboats.

Egyptian media and commentators have accused the operators of making the ferry unsafe by adding extra decks after buying it from Italy and using a Panamanian flag to avoid safety requirements.
Page: 12



Syrians protest over Mohammad cartoon
Wife of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King dies
Syrians set embassies on fire
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Iran says negotiations on nuke program still possible

 

   
 

Series of tragic errors doomed Egypt ferry

 

   
 

Pentagon plans new arms to meet rivals

 

   
 

China may report EU to WTO over shoes

 

   
 

Protesters torch Danish embassy in Beirut

 

   
 

China to allocate more money to rural areas

 

   
  Flood on car deck sank Egyptian ferry: officer
   
  Iran ends voluntary cooperation with IAEA
   
  Japan FM whitewashes colonization history
   
  Iran vows enrichment after UN referral
   
  Series of tragic errors doomed Egypt ferry
   
  Syrians torch embassies over caricatures
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement