On Sunday morning, a passing cargo ship, coming from the Suez Canal, collided with a small Egyptian fishing boat causing it to capsize, according to reports.
Thirteen Egyptian fisherman are reportedly drowned and 13 others have been reported missing.
However, there have been incosistent reports about the number of people on board the vessel, reported as ‘Badr’ as well as the number of people that are missing or have been killed or rescued.
Namely, Al Arabiya told that Bakri Abu al-Hassan, the Red Sea director of Egypt’s main fishermen’s trade union had said the local media that the number of missing persons was 18, with 11 rescued.
“Rescue operations have been ongoing for hours. So far 11 have survived, some are in serious conditions. Eleven bodies of dead fishermen were taken, and now we are looking for 18 more,” Hassan said.
At the same time, the Associated Press had reported that 45 fisherman had been on board the Egyptian fishing vessel, and that 23 of them are listed as missing.
According to reports, the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship ended up at the port of Safaga, after being unable to stop following the incident.