The authorities have called off the search for missing passengers after two Nile ferries collided near Rosetta, reports Reem Leila The search for victims from the collision of two Nile ferries on 4 November has been halted after rescue teams failed to find any bodies. When the two craft collided between Rosetta in Beheira governorate and Motoubas in Kafr Al-Sheikh dozens were feared missing. The two boats collided almost 100 metres from the Rosetta bank of the Nile. The exact number of people on board the vessels was unclear. Private river ferries can sometimes be crowded and total numbers being carried are not always recorded, making an accurate count of those involved in the collision impossible. One of the vessels, a passenger ferry, broke apart during the accident and sank while the second boat, which was carrying passengers and cars, overturned without causing any injuries. "Rescue units ended the search after they combed an area of more than 2km and at a depth of 15 metres and failed to find a single dead body," Beheira Governor Mohamed Sharawi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "There is no indication that anyone died in the accident." Both Sharawi and Kafr Al-Sheikh Governor Ahmed Abdine point out that the police have not received any reports of missing persons. Nineteen people were rescued from the sunken boat though it was initially claimed it was carrying 30 passengers. Six of the rescued passengers were injured and transferred to Rosetta hospital. The cause of the accident is still unclear, but there are reports stating that irresponsible behaviour on the part of both boats' skippers led to the collision. Sharawi announced immediately after the accident that his governorate would pay each injured victim LE2,000 in compensation. In the meantime, the prosecution in Alexandria ordered the detention of four people, among them the two ferry captains and the boats' owners. They could face charges including negligence and operating unlicensed craft. Karim Abul-Kheir, the chairman of the Nile for River Transport, says the two boats involved in the accident were operating without licences and had been told to cease working six months ago. It is impossible though for the river police to monitor every single boat on the Nile. "Today we transport three million kilos of products per year, while we are targeting 40 million," stated Abul-Kheir. "The authority has only 90 ferries over which we have control, though we intend to import extra numbers, increasing capacity to 57 million kilos per year by 2014." Abdine points out that many ferries charge passengers a fee ranging between LE0.25 and LE0.5. "Accordingly they overload the vessels in order to make more money, which is asking for an accident to happen." The governors of Beheira and Kafr Al-Sheikh have formed a joint committee to review ferries' licences. Beheira governor partly blames the passengers themselves for the accident. "Citizens refrain from using the bridge, which was built at a cost of LE60 million, to cross the Nile. They also refuse to use the safe government ferry, claiming that it takes too long because it only crosses when it is full." Others point out that the government ferry stops operating at 5pm, leaving later passengers with no other choice than private ferries. A series of road, rail and sea accidents in recent years has triggered an outcry over the government's handling of transport safety. In February 2006 a ferry in the Red Sea caught fire and sank en route to Egypt from Saudi Arabia, killing 1,034 of the 1,400 people on board. The Court of Appeals in March this year found the owner of the Red Sea ferry guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to seven years in jail, reversing an earlier decision exonerating Shura Council member Mamdouh Ismail. Former Transport Minister Mohamed Mansour resigned in October following a train crash south of Cairo in which 18 people died.
