36 bodies pulled out of water after Nile river collision - state agency

Saturday 25-07-2015 12:40 PM
36 bodies pulled out of water after Nile river collision - state agency

Boat sails on the river Nile - Reuters/Asmaa Waguih

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CAIRO, Jul 25 (Aswat Masriya) - The bodies of 36 victims from last week's sunken ferryboat accident have been pulled out of the Nile river as search and rescue teams continue to look for the last two bodies, a police official said on Saturday.

On Wednesday a ferryboat capsized when "a barge collided" with it in Giza, "shattering" the former, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

There were nine survivours, the director of the police's civil protection administration, Magdi al-Shalaqani told the state agency MENA.

Shalaqani added that search operations are continuing "at different distances" from the site of the collision, as per orders from the interior minister.

On Friday, the Water Surface Authority Director Wael al-Sharkawy said at least 37 were pronounced dead.

He added that the majority of the bodies belonged to children aged 4 to 14. This accident has attracted widespread public attention.   

The Interior Ministry attributed the accident to the captain of the barge, who was arrested alongside his assistant.

In March, a private company bus carrying workers fell off the ring road and into a canal branching from the Nile river, leaving a dozen dead.

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