CAIRO, Jan 1 (Aswat Masriya) - At least 15 people were found dead due to the sinking of a ferryboat in the Egyptian province of Kafr el-Sheikh, as announced by the Kafr el-Sheikh governor Friday.

A ferryboat, carrying aoround 17 passengers, used for transportation from a village in Kafr el-Sheikh province to another in Beheira province sank late Thursday.

Minser of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali announced a compensation of EGP 10,000 will be provided for the families of the deceased. 

According to MENA news agency, the injured will be compensated by EGP 2000. 

Investigations are ongoing to determine whether passenger overload or bad weather conditions were the reason behind the sinking of the ferryboat. A prosecution team was formed to retrieve testimonies from witnesses and families of the deceased.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the ferryboat’s license had expired eight months ago, making it “unfit” from a technical aspect.  

Transportation accidents recur frequently in Egypt. In July, around 40 people died in a sinking boat after it crashed with a heavy-cargo ship in the Nile river. 

During the Mubarak era, the famous sinking of the Egyptian ferry al-Salam Boccaccio 98 in the Red Sea in 2006 led to the death of around 1000 passengers, mostly Egyptians returning from Saudi Arabia. The government was heavily criticised for failing to deliver rescue in due time.

Egypt also has one of the highest worldwide casualties caused by car accidents. The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported 2,808 deaths in the first half of 2015.

According to a 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) report, 10,466 Egyptians were killed in accidents in 2013.