He also said that the search operation is still ongoing.
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The total number of bodies pulled from the waters climbed to 148, Egypt’s state-run news agency MENA said on Friday, quoting Wahdan el-Sayyed, the spokesman of Beheira province, where Rosetta is located.
There are many children and women among the victims.
Pictures posted on social media showed dozens of bodies lined up in black plastic bags and others floating near fishing boats.
Reports gave conflicting figures for the exact number of people who were on board the boat when it sank early on Wednesday.
The Egyptian Mediterranean coastline has been one of the main departure points for migrant boats.
“The boat flipped over and sank shortly after the start of the journey”, Ahmed Darwish, told al-Masri al-Youm. “Today, four bodies, including two Egyptian children, were found 20 kilometers to the east”, he said, a distance of more than 12 miles.
Eyewitnesses estimated the boat was carrying around 450 migrants, 300 over an estimated maximum passenger capacity of 150 people. “I believe many are stuck and now laying in the bottom of the sea”.
“There were 200 of us and the boat was already full, 200 more then arrived. Now 150 people (of whom 43 were non-Egyptians, including 26 Sudanese, 13 Eritreans, 2 Somalis, 1 Syrian, and 1 Ethiopian) have been rescued in an operation by the Egyptian authorities involving the army and navy”, a United Nations statement read.
The Egyptian police informed on four crew members have been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and human trafficking.
Egypt has been a traditional route for migrants travelling to Europe by sea.
Egypt migrant boat sinking, 162 people died, and the search continues. At least one infant is among the dead, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Thousands of illegal migrants have made the risky sea voyage across the Mediterranean in recent years, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and elsewhere.
At a small pier called el-Borg, hundreds of families had gathered Friday, hoping to identify the bodies of their loved ones. Women screamed, and relatives pushed and shoved while swarming the ambulances heading to hospital.
“On the boat there is a hold used to store fish”.
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Meanwhile, the fishermen who launched the rescue operation after the incident took place said they managed to save 169 people. Some of the interviewees said the traffickers asked for $6,250 per family, to be paid on arrival in Italy.
