He said that the search operations are still under way off Beheira’s town of Rosetta where the boat capsized on Wednesday.
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The International Organisation for Migration said more than 300,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean this year, mostly arriving in Greece and Italy.
Egypt’s Armed Forces also said that the rescue ship managed to foil another boat carrying 294 migrants attempting illegal immigration.
There are many children and women among the victims, al-Ahram reported.
However, a survivor whose comments appeared in a video online said the migrants had been told that about 200 people would be on board, but that the smugglers had then added another 50, causing the boat to founder.
Several survivors said refugees had been had been “stored” for several days in chicken farms by the traffickers to evade police, having promised to pay £4,800 per family on their arrival in Italy.
The European Union launched “Operation Sophia” a year ago to destroy smuggler boats that could be used to ferry refugees across the sea.
On Thursday, Egyptian authorities jailed the four crew members pending an inquiry into the accident, among the deadliest of its kind in recent years.
In June, the European agency Frontex border control had said it was anxious about the growing number of migrants trying to reach Europe, usually Italy or Greece, initiating the very unsafe journey from the Egypt.
However, migrants seeking refuge in Europe continue to leave Egypt at increasing rates, rising from 4 to 9 percent of arrivals in Italy as of July 2016, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
At least 115 bodies were retrieved by Friday from a refugee boat that capsized off Egyptian coast two days ago, Egyptian officials told the Associated Press.
Around 150 migrants are thought to have been rescued.
After his release, survivor Ahmed Darwish commented, “My advice is that no one should undertake this risk, and especially anyone who saw these things, they will never do it again”.
According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, this year’s deaths stand at 3,501, including the people who died in the latest tragedy off Egypt.
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Those who chose to risk the risky journey often are fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and elsewhere.
