A Nile boat carrying 25 passengers sank on Saturday morning in front of the Maspero building.
The boat– named Al-Me’allem – was on a short Nile cruise from Kasr Al-Nil Bridge to October 6 Bridge, when it crashed into a concrete pillar of a bridge near Maspero.
According to state-run gazette Al-Ahram, eyewitnesses reported that nearby boats called upon the captain of Al- Me’allem to evacuate the passengers immediately upon crashing.
He insisted upon sailing back to the shore when the boat suddenly started sinking, bringing the passengers to a state of panic.
The head of the office of the attorney general Boulak Abul Ella ordered a full investigation into the accident, the arrest of the owner of the boat, and an investigation into the fate of a sailor who is still missing.
At the time of printing reports indicated that six people had drowned.
Victims included a man along with his father and his grand-father, a twenty-year-old woman from Nahia, and another unidentified woman in her thirties. Not all bodies have yet been recovered.
Ten passengers were rescued right away by nearby boats, while another 15 were left struggling in the Nile.
Five of the passengers are now in Qasr Al-Eini hospital receiving treatment.
