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Egypt: Ferry owner delayed news of sinking
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-08 07:01
Egypt's presidential spokesman said Tuesday the owners of the Red Sea ferry
that sank last week, drowning about 1,000 people, did not inform the government
of the disaster for nearly six hours.
Suleiman Awad emerged from a Cabinet session chaired by President Hosni
Mubarak to say the government first heard from owner Al Salam Maritime Transport
Co. that the ship was in danger at 7 a.m. Friday and was feared sunk at 7:45
a.m.
A handout shows the
Egyptian ferry Al Salam 98 which sank in the Red Sea February 3, 2006.
[Reuters] |
By most accounts, the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 sank no later than 2 a.m., five
hours earlier. Other reports say the ship sank at 1 a.m., which would have made
the delay in notification at least six hours.
The public did not learn of the disaster for several more hours after the
government was notified.
"What really happened was that the port authority was first informed at 7
a.m. by the ship's owners that they had lost contact with the ferry," Awad said.
"Forty-five minutes later, the company told port officials the ship may have
sunk."
Awad said the rescue center was notified "one minute later" and a plane was
over the scene of the sinking by 8 a.m.
"It was followed by another rescue plane and ships of the Egyptian fleet," he
said.
The ferry set sail from Dubah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday night, carrying more
than 1,400 passengers and crew. Fierce winds whipped up a sandstorm as the
vessel left port for the 130-mile crossing to Safaga.
Less than two hours into the voyage — with the ship about 40 miles off the
Saudi coast — a fire broke out in the vehicle parking bay. The captain,
apparently thinking the blaze had been extinguished, pressed on for Egypt, but
the fire rekindled and raged out of control.
The ship sank early Friday about 60 miles from its destination. The number of
survivors has been estimated at about 400.
Meanwhile, the captain of another ship owned by Al Salam Maritime, the St.
Catherine, told a Cairo newspaper Tuesday he was informed by the owners as he
left Safaga port in Egypt to try to make contact with the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98
because they feared it was in trouble.
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