Ferry crew kept on course despite fire

SAFAGA, Egypt – The series of tragic errors that apparently claimed more than 1,000 lives on an Egyptian ferry escalated when the crew decided to push across the Red Sea despite the fire burning in the aging vessel’s parking bay, survivors said Saturday.

The Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 had sailed only about 20 miles from the Saudi shore, but its crew instead tried to reach Egypt’s shores 110 miles away. Only 376 survivors had been rescued by late Saturday.

“We told the crew, ‘Let’s turn back, let’s call for help,’ but they refused and said everything was under control,” said passenger Ahmed Abdel Wahab, 30, an Egyptian who works in Saudi Arabia.

As the blaze grew out of control, passengers moved to one side of the 35-year-old vessel. An explosion was heard, and high winds helped push the unbalanced ship over. The ship quickly sank with more than 1,400 passengers and crew and 220 cars aboard.

News reports on Saturday said the ship’s captain and some of the crew fled their drowning vessel in one of the first lifeboats to launch.

Despite the fire, the ship had managed to get within about 55 miles of the Egyptian port of Hurghada, according to official accounts.

At the port of Safaga – the ship’s original destination – relatives and friends of passengers begged authorities for information. When there was none, some banged on the iron gates trying to storm the docks.

Riot police with truncheons pushed the frantic crowd away from the port compound. Angry relatives threw stones, and some police could be seen hurling them back.

Shaaban el-Qott, 55, from Qena, Egypt, was looking for his cousin. He had been waiting at the port since Friday morning.

“No one is telling us anything. All I want to know if he’s dead or alive. We rely on God. May God destroy Hosni Mubarak!” el-Qott shouted Saturday, referring to the Egyptian president. “This government was supposed to throw this ship away and get a new one.”

Four Egyptian rescue ships reached the scene Friday afternoon, about 10 hours after the ferry was believed to have capsized.

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