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At least 35 killed in Nile boat sinking, recovery efforts ongoing Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb orders compensation of EGP 60,000 for families of deceased and temporary suspension of Nile river officials
A relative of seven victims, who were killed when a Nile boat sunk last Wednesday, said that no compensation will ever replace their loss. "Any compensation won't replace the loss of seven people of the same family in a terrible incident such as this," said Yasser Mohamed Tawfik, after the Nile boat collided with a barge and sank. The incident occurred late in the evening near the Al-Waraq district in Giza, where the small cruise boat had approximately 40 people on board. Recovery efforts have been taking place since the night of the incident and are ongoing, according to Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar. He added that the total number of deaths has so far reached 35. Eight of Tawfik's family members were on board the boat, with only a 16-year-old girl, Bossy Kamal Kamel Nawara, having survived. He said that he did not know the exact number of people on board, but that, following the incident, he saw at least 30 bodies in the morgue. He further noted that "the driver violated the law as cargo ships are not supposed to sail after 7pm". Bossy saw the cargo ship driver who tried to escape after colliding with the small boat. "Bossy tried to stop him from escaping, he kept beating her and tried to drown her," Tawfik added. The police, however, managed to arrest the cargo ship crew members and they are currently being investigated. Two days following the incident, and upon his return from Italy on Friday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb issued a decision to temporarily suspend the head of the river transport authority and the Director of the General Administration of Water Surface. Mehleb ordered compensations of EGP 60,000 to be given to the families of each of the deceased. The decisions were made following a late Friday meeting with the Ministers of Interior and Transportation. Earlier on Thursday, Giza Governor Khaled Zakareya ordered compensation of EGP 20,000 to be issued to each family. The Emergency and Relief Committee at the Arab Medical Union also announced that EGP 2,000 will be distributed to the families of the victims.
