Four Pakistani tourists who hailed from the same family drowned in the Nile in Cairo’s Boulaq Abu El-Ela district after their pleasure boat capsized in the river on Tuesday night, Egyptian authorities say.
General Hamed El-Oqaily, the head of Cairo’s river police told Ahram Arabic newswebsite that police were able to rescue six of the people who were aboard the boat and is still searching for three more believed missing.
El-Oqaily added that the boat has a valid operation license which expires in February 2018.
Prosecutors investigating the deadly accident have taken the boat’s sailor into custody and are questioning the owner.
The boat was sailing along the Nile when it collided with a concrete column which lifts the 15 May bridge, causing it capsize, according to the prosecution.
Accidents are common on the Nile, which is used by many cargo vessels and ferries as well as pleasure boats.
Earlier this year, 15 people drowned when an unlicensed ferry sank.
Source: Ahram
