Cairo – Rescue teams scoured the dark waters of the Red Sea for survivors after an Egyptian ferry carrying more than 1,400 people sank in stormy weather early Friday. Nearly 24 hours later, just 314 survivors had been found, along with nearly 200 bodies.
The number of confirmed victims was expected to climb sharply overnight.
Saudi and Egyptian ships combed the chilly waters, but the ferry already had been missing for 10 hours by the time rescue efforts got underway.
Transportation Minister Mohammed Lutfy Mansour told reporters early Saturday that a “small fire” broke out on the ferry before it sank, but he did not have further details.
At the Egyptian Red Sea port of Hurghada, nearly 140 survivors were brought to shore early Saturday. They walked off the ship down a ramp, some of them barefoot and shivering, wrapped in blankets, and immediately boarded buses to take them to the hospital.
Some shouted to waiting journalists, angry that their rescue had taken so long.
“They left us in the water for 24 hours. A helicopter came above us and circled, we would signal, and they ignored us,” one man shouted.
“Our lives are the cheapest in the world,” another said.
Lines of police kept journalists away from the survivors to prevent their asking questions.
There was no way to know what caused the ferry to sink, but heavy winds and sandstorms were plaguing the Red Sea area when the boat disappeared.
The ferry didn’t have enough lifeboats to save all of the passengers, a presidential spokesman said.
President Hosni Mubarak “called for a swift investigation into what happened, and this will happen parallel to the rescue efforts,” spokesman Suleiman Awad told Egyptian state television.
After the slow start, rescue efforts appeared to be hampered by confusion.
Egyptian authorities at first turned down British and U.S. offers to send ships to help hunt for survivors.
A British warship on patrol nearby had already turned toward the scene when Cairo called it off. As the hours dragged on, however, the Egyptian government reversed its decision and asked for help.
Frantic families huddled by the Egyptian port town of Safaga, where the ferry had been due to make landfall before sunrise Friday.
The boat was making the 120-mile crossing from the Saudi port of Dubah to Egypt, carrying mostly Egyptian workers who trek to the oil-rich Persian Gulf state to make a living. Many Egyptians opt for the water crossing on their visits home because it is cheaper than flying.
At least 2,000 friends and family members milled near the gates of the port Friday night, waiting in anger and confusion for news on their loved ones. Officials wandered the crowd, reading the names of passengers. The atmosphere was chaotic and tense; riot police were deployed in case of unrest.
The ship is believed to have sunk about 57 miles from the Egyptian port of Hurghada. A team of federal investigators was airlifted immediately to Safaga to open an investigation into the ferry’s disappearance.
The aging boat, which was used in Europe for years before being sold to the Egyptian company, was carrying more than 1,100 Egyptians and almost 100 Saudis. There also were Syrians, Palestinians and at least one passenger each from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Canada, Sudan and Yemen.
Built to hold 2,000 people, the ferry was carrying 1,317 passengers, along with 97 crew members, when it disappeared, fleet manager Mamdouh Oraby said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
