Almost to 1,000 people were feared dead Sunday as chances diminished of finding more survivors from an Egyptian ferry that caught fire and then sank in the the Red Sea. Meanwhile, anger and controversy mounted over as survivors blamed the captain for refusing to turn around when a fire broke out shortly after the vessel left Saudi Arabia with 1,300 passengers on Thursday night.
According to AFP, hundreds of relatives gathered in Safaga on hearing news of the ship's disaster. Rage mounted as little information on the fate of loved ones filtered through.
Maritime sources confirmed 378 people from the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 had been survived. Among them were 29 passengers who were saved by Saudi coast guards.
An eyewitness told AFP passengers were told to gather on the decks so that crew members could extinguish the blaze. The crew failed to control the fire.
There were various versions about where the blaze started, with some claim it broke out in one of the engines or in the exhaust system and others argue a truck caught fire in the car deck.
Reports have indicated that search and rescue operations were only launched seven hours after the ship sank.
Some 1,200 passengers were Egyptians. An outraged crowd in the Egyptian port of Safaga confronted riot police armed with truncheons and plastic shields by throwing stones Saturday. Another group had earlier managed to break the police cordons and rush towards the docks in search of their relatives.
