MINYA: Silence dawned on the small village of Bani Hassan in Minya province after at least 13 people, including three children, drowned in a ferry accident on the first day of Eid Al Fitr.
The families of those who got on the ferry to cross from the western to the eastern bank of the Nile are in mourning as they search for someone to blame for their misfortune.
Their loved ones were on their way to the cemetery to pay their respects, as part of an Upper Egypt tradition during Eid.
“We go to the cemetery every year during the Eid holiday, this time, as soon as we got on the ferry, I realized that there were too many people and the ferry was unstable, Karima Ahmed, one of the survivors said.
A large number of passengers had been trying to get on the ferry when a ramp linking it to the dock collapsed. According to officials at the Abu Qurqas police station – the station Bani Hassan reports to – the ferry’s maximum load should not exceed 25 people. However, this ferry was loaded with around 50 people, which led to the fatal incident.
“There are rules that stipulate the number of people that should be on the ferry, but unfortunately ferry captians and owners only care about making quick profits, a police officer told Daily News Egypt.
The rules may exist, but no police officials are present at the docks to ensure they are enforced.
As rescuers continue searching for missing people, hundreds of the village residents huddled around the dock, waiting to see who the next victim extracted from the water might be.
“We are waiting to see who is next. Our vacation was destroyed and all the kids are scared and the women are screaming, Ahmed Hamza, one of the villagers standing at the docks said.
According to the village residents, the governorate had promised to renovate the dock and regulate the ferry loads, however, these promises were never fulfilled. Following the incident, Governor Fouad Saad El-Din promised to dedicate LE 1 million to renovating the Bani Hassan eastern dock.
Another concern that arose after the accident was the poor condition of the hospitals in Abu Qurqas and their inadequacy to receive emergency patients, especially during the holiday season.
“My wife was one of the people who were rescued. She couldn’t breathe and so we took her to Abu Qurqas Hospital. At first, there were no doctors available. Thank God she didn’t die while we waited, Hamza said.
The government has remunerated the families of the victims and injured with monetary compensations.
Walking through the streets of the village, all women are wearing black and only the sound of the Holy Quran could be heard. Children are sitting on their doorsteps, staring into the abyss, and reminiscing about the vacation that was overshadowed by grief.
“We have nothing to do, school didn’t start yet and we are not allowed to play because we are in mourning, a little girl said.
