“There have been 53 bodies recovered as of 11 am (0900 GMT) on Friday”, said health ministry official Adel Khalifa.
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Beheira Wahdan el-Sayed, Spokesman for the Delta province, said in Cairo that rescuers on Friday recovered more than 90 bodies, bringing the number of dead so far to 148.
Those onboard described how traffickers had overloaded the boat, which made it unsteady in the waters.
There are many children and women among the victims, al-Ahram reported.
THE full horror of Wednesday’s refugee boat disaster off Egypt began to emerge yesterday as more than 100 bodies were pulled from the sea.
Rescue operations are still ongoing.
The Egyptian news portal, Al-Youm al-Sabei, published interviews with several survivors who said that before their journey the migrants had been “stored” for several days in chicken farms by the traffickers to evade police.
Of the 150 people rescued, the UNHCR said that the majority are Egyptians in addition to Sudanese and other nationalities, including Somalians and Eritreans.
A total of 3,213 people died crossing the Mediterranean till September 18, 2016, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
“There aren’t enough ambulances or body bags”, Mohamed Abassi said.
The boat sunk on Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea near the Rashid coast in Beheira governorate.
Egypt has become a more common launching point for illegal immigration through its Mediterranean Sea shores to Europe after Libya and Turkey lost their importance for smugglers in favor of the most populous Arab country, said experts of Egyptian and Middle East affairs. Some 150 people, mostly Egyptians, survived while numerous dead are women and children who were unable to swim away from the wreckage.
One survivor said there were more than 500 people on board the boat when it sank.
The Egyptian police informed on four crew members have been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and human trafficking.
He said the boat could be 16 metres below sea level.
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More than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year from various points of departure, the United Nations said this week.
