CAIRO: Initial results of an inquiry into the February shipwreck of the Al-Salaam 98 ferry in which 1,000 people died indicated that the captain was to blame, Transport Minister Mohammed Mansour said. The commission in charge of analyzing the black box concluded that (it was) an error of the captain which led to the sinking of the ferry, said the minister, quoted by Egypt s official news agency MENA. He added that results from the black box … proved that the captain had not sent distress signals until the sinking of the ferry. Distress signals intercepted by some countries had been sent by other vessels while the ferry was fitted with the necessary equipment to send signals, Mansour added. British authorities said after the disaster that one of their military bases had received a distress signal from the ferry, but Egyptian marine sources said no such message had been sent. The ferry captain is still missing. His ship was carrying a total of 1,400 people between the Saudi port of Douba and Egypt s Safaga port. Survivors said a fire broke out on board the ship before it keeled over and sank. AFP
Inquiry blames ferry captain for shipwreck
