CAIRO — The owner of a ferry that sank two years ago in the Red Sea was acquitted Sunday of manslaughter charges in the deaths of more than 1,000 people who perished in the botched rescue.
Sunday’s ruling cleared a total of five people in the case, outraging families of those killed in the accident. One person — the captain of another ferry who failed to respond to the foundering vessel’s distress call — was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail.
The Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 sank in February 2006 after fire broke out in its vehicle bay while traveling from Saudi Arabia to Egypt. Most of the more than 1,000 victims were Egyptian workers returning home.
The court said any mistakes that may have been made during the accident were “merely accidental mistakes that alone do not add up to criminal convictions.”
