One hundred and sixty-four bodies have been found after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsized off an Egyptian coastal town this week, a provincial official said on Friday.
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The migrants’ boat capsized on Wednesday, almost 7.5 miles from the Nile Delta port city of Rosetta.
Dozens more are feared dead, said Mohammed Sultan, the governor of Beheira, who provided The Associated Press with the latest figures.
On Thursday, Egyptian prosecutors ordered the arrest and detention of the four crew members for four days pending investigation over charges of human trafficking, wrongful death, wrongful injury and using a fishing boat for another objective.
Military boats were seen bringing corpses to shore in body bags, one containing the body of a child whose grandfather recognised him and knelt down in shock.
The death toll from a capsized boat off the coast of Egypt has risen to at least 162.
Egyptian officials said that over 160 people were rescued and that the majority are Egyptians, while the others are Sudanese and other nationalities.
“On the boat there is a hold used to store fish”.
Egypt has been a traditional route of migrants to Europe by sea, but since 2014, UNHCR said, there has been a steady increase in the number being intercepted while trying to leave.
It is unclear where the boat was headed, but officials said it was heading for Italy.
Survivors said smugglers forced anyone who wanted a lifejacket to pay extra, as a result, 162 have drowned.
He said he arrived at 11 a.m. and helped survivors.
Many survivors were in police custody. “That is the most hope we have here”.
More than 3,500 people have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, with the number “rapidly approaching” the record death toll set last year.
The Egyptian Mediterranean coastline has been one of the main departure points for migrant boats.
The number is down from 520,000 in the first nine months of 2015.
The number of people trying to reach Europe has fallen significantly since last year’s record levels, as a result of the deal struck between the European Union and Turkey and the closure of a humanitarian corridor between Greece and Germany.
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The European Union launched “Operation Sophia” previous year to destroy smuggler boats that could be used to ferry migrants across the Mediterranean.
