CAIRO: Five people drowned late Thursday and one person was missing after their boat capsized on the Nile in the suburbs of Cairo, a security official said.
The boat, which was carrying 22 people in all, according to survivors, probably capsized because there were too many people on board, the official said.
However, the cause of the boat’s sinking is not certain. The official Middle East News Agency says it was only a few meters into the water when the boat went under.
MENA said the passengers were apparently on a church-organized trip along the river near the south Cairo neighborhood of Tora.
While five bodies had been recovered, rescuers were still searching for a sixth person. 16 others survived the accident, among whom six were hospitalized.
Transport accidents are common in Egypt and are often blamed on poor maintenance and neglect. A ferry sinking in 2006 killed more than 1,000 people.
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A diver looks for victims of sinking of a boat in the Nile River in south of Cairo, Egypt, late Thursday, July 15. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
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