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EGYPT: MUSLIM PILGRIMS DIE ON RED SEA February 4, 2006
Kizza Harajah
(SomaliNet) Over 1000 pilgrims from Mecca are feared dead on the Red Sea when their ship caught fire and sank. 362 others are reported to have survived the calamity.
Rescue boats picked up at least 362 survivors from an Egyptian ferry that caught fire and sank in the Red Sea, apparently so fast there was no time for a distress signal. But more than 1,000 missing passengers and crew were feared drowned, officials said Saturday. The cause of the sinking is yet to be established.Transport Minister Mohammed Lutfy Mansour said there was an investigation todetermine whether the fire, which he described as "small," led to the sinking.
By the time of this report, relatives were still anxious to know the survivors."No one is telling us anything. All I want to know if he's dead or alive."a relative said in referance to his cousin.
Many survivors blame the high number of the dead on scarcity of lifeboats.