The military said in a statement that 163 passengers had been rescued so far, adding that they had stopped another boat elsewhere on the Mediterranean coast carrying 294 migrants.
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Police arrested four members of the boat’s crew. He said 157 people were rescued. More than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year from various points of departure, the United Nations said this week. It was not immediately possible to verify the differing accounts, but the survivor’s comments suggest fewer people might be missing than initially thought.
“The wooden boat was overcapacity”, Egyptian Mahmoud Aly told CNN, explaining that his 24-year-old brother, who was also onboard, is still missing.
Migrants rescued by the Italian navy near Europe’s southern borders are brought to processing centers and offered accommodation while they apply for asylum. Rescue efforts are continuing.
The head of the local council, Ali Abdel-Sattar, said the loss of life would have been much heavier had a fishing vessel not been close by when the boat capsized.
Crossings from Turkey to Greece fell dramatically after an EU-Turkey pact earlier this year, that aimed to deter prospective migrants by promising the deportation of most people arriving through that route.
The four were accused of human trafficking and involvement in illegal migration.
Hassan Suleiman Daoud, a relative of one of the refugees, told AP, “We have been telling the authorities from 5.30 am [local time] that the boat is sinking, and they were saying they had no rescue boats, and no one was moving”.
The Egyptian military said the boat was 12 nautical miles off the coast near the town of Rosetta when it capsized Wednesday.
Illegal immigration via Egyptian Mediterranean Sea shores rose over the past few years in attempts to reach Europe and flee hard economic conditions in the financially-struggling Arab country, where unemployment rate hit 12.5 percent, according to official reports.
Many of those interviewed in the aftermath of the shipwreck off Egypt spoke of their desire to flee in search of a brighter future.
World leaders, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, gathered in NY this week at the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the migrant crisis.
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The health ministry said Wednesday evening that 42 people died in the incident as the boat was carrying migrants off Egypt’s Mediterranean port city of Rosetta.
