Ferry sinking kills 15 people in Egypt

The sinking of a ferryboat on the Nile River in Egypt has killed 15 people, with two still missing.

River Nile in Giza, south of Cairo, Egypt

The sinking of a ferryboat on the Nile River in Egypt has killed 15 people, with two still missing. (AAP)

Egyptian search parties have recovered an elderly man's body from the Nile River, bringing the death toll to 15 from the sinking of a small ferryboat on New Year's Eve, officials say.

Two more people believed to have been on the boat were still missing on Friday.

The chief of the country's River Transport Authority, Reda Ismail, told the state MENA news agency that the ferry did not have a licence to operate between the Nile Delta villages.

The boat sank late on Thursday in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the accident. Afterward, angry villagers gathered on the banks of the Nile, but the police "contained the situation," MENA reported.

Egypt has frequent transportation accidents, mainly because of poor maintenance and the lack of regulations.

Nile boat collisions and capsizing are common in Egypt. Last July, a passenger boat hit a scow, causing the boat to capsize and 35 people drowned. After the incident, officials vowed to better monitor Nile traffic and crack down on illegal sailors.

A ferry sinking in 2006 killed more than 1,000 people.


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Source: AAP



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