BREAKING NEWS

Updated: 6:51 a.m. ET Feb. 3, 2006

 

CAIRO, Egypt - An Egyptian passenger ship carrying 1,300 people has sunk in the Red Sea, the head of the Egyptian Maritime Authority, Mahfouz Taha Marzouk, said Friday.

 

The ship, "Salaam 98," sunk 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, Marzouk said.

 

Helicopters have spotted bodies as well as one lifeboat carrying three people in the vicinity of where the 25-year-old ship was last seen on the radar screens, Egyptian maritime officials said. They did not say how many bodies were sighted.

 

Four Egyptian frigates have sailed to rescue survivors, Egypt's minister of transport, Mohammed Lutfy Mansour, told CNN shortly before the sinking of the ship was announced.

 

"The Coast Guard is doing every in its power to try to rescue these people," Mansour said.

 

The ship is owned by the Egyptian firm El-Salaam Maritime Transport Co.

 

Mamdouh Ismail, the company's owner, said the ship is more than 25-years old and registered in Panama. He refused to make any further comment.

 

A ship owned by the same company, also carrying pilgrims, collided with a cargo ship at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal in October, causing a stampede among passengers trying to escape the sinking ship. Two people were killed and 40 injured.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11157659/

 

that's very said! i hope more people survived! Its truly sad when things like this happen. one of the reasons I don't think I'll ever go on a ship. too dangerous i think. I really really really hope that there are more life boats full of people and that most of the people on the ship survived and get rescued as soon as possible!

Yes , I h eard about this morning in the news agent J , and I got very sad For You Khnow I am an Egyptian , and i wished that the coast gaurd were able to rescue them , but .............

they keep saying on the news here in America that there are reports of a lot of bodies floating in the water, which isn't very promising.

That's terrible. So only 3 out of 1,300 people survived?

I heard at the news that htey were able to rescue about 300 and they said that dead bodies that they were able to collect about 500.

I wonder if terrorism had anything to do with this? They said it was storming and the ship had too much weight on it. They were comparing it to the titanic since so many people died.

I don't think that this was done by terrorists , They said that an engine was dead , and as it was too old it was affeced by the stream ,Flood tide and the reflow , and it was carrying about 80 tons of goods and cars.

Its now being said that there was a fire on board that caused all the problems. Survivors are saying this. That'd suck to be on a boat that is on fire. no where to go!

They came out with new reason every day , the new one is there was a fire in the engines room , but they were able to control it , and the stupid thing that they put out the fire with alot of water , the staff got aal tha passengers on the board of the ship and they made them go to the opposite side to the engines room, so there was a problem in the stability and wih the stream and the earthquake , boom , it happened.

 

 

Wait for the new reason tomorrow......

Wow that's scary. They were stuck on the boat while all this was happening around them.