ROSETTA, Egypt (AP) – Survivors, some handcuffed to hospital beds, described watching women and children drown after an overcrowded migrant boat capsized off Egypt’s coast, as Egyptian authorities said Thursday 51 bodies had been recovered and an global NGO estimated that over a hundred people were still missing at sea.
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Smugglers frequently take migrants out to sea in small crafts that can slip out from the coast without drawing attention, then board hundreds of people on to larger vessels for the long journey to Italy.
This incident comes after the head of the Eurepean Union’s border agency warned that increasing numbers of Europe-bound migrants are using Egypt as a departure point, according to BBC News.
Egypt’s official news agency MENA said the boat was carrying 600 people when it sank near the coast, some 180 kilometers (112 miles) north of the capital, Cairo. Initial estimates put the number of people on board the boat at 600.
Mahmoud Aly spent Wednesday going between hospitals along the coast. Those on the boat that sank included people from Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as Egyptians. “The boat sunk. My three children died”, said Badr Abdel Hamid, 28, before breaking into tears. Rescue efforts are continuing. “There were many in the boat’s hold who died. Seven people were on board”. The boat has now been missing for over 24 hours and hope of recovering more people is dwindling.
At least three families who have been searching for loved ones said so far it had mainly been local fisherman involved in the rescue mission.
17-year-old Ahmed Gamal said: “I just wanted to reach Europe and live a decent life”. “This is a disaster”.
“Uncle help me! People are dying around me, the boat is sinking, water is coming in from all sides”. “Everyone is helping. All security agencies are involved”.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian cabinet released a statement saying that Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has ordered the arrest of the smugglers responsible, adding that a draft law aiming to combat illegal immigration has been sent to Egypt’s House of Representatives for discussion. They were captured off the coast of Matrouh.
The United Nations said in early June that over 10,000 people had lost their lives in the hazardous journeys since 2014.
The fate of the 400 other migrants was not immediately known.
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Egypt has in recent months seen an increase in the number of migrant boats leaving its Mediterranean shores.
