afrol News, 7 December - Egyptian authorities have called off the search for victims of a collision of two ferries in the Nile despite fears of missing people. Two Nile river passenger ferries collided on Friday in northern Egypt, and close to 80 people were reported missing.

Beheira Governor Mohamed Sharawy said the rescue units have discontinued the search after they searched an area of two kilometres in the Nile, where no bodies were found.

Mr Sharawy said no statements for missing people were filed since the accident, suggesting that all passengers had now been accounted for. "There is no indication that someone has died in this accident," Mr Sharawy told reporters.

Public river ferries are normally crowded and total numbers being carried are not always recorded, making an accurate count of those involved or missing difficult, according to officials.

He said one of the ferries was a passenger ferry that broke apart during the accident while the other, carrying both passengers and cars, overturned causing no injuries or fatalities.

He said six of those injured had been transferred to hospital and his governorate would pay each injured victim 2,000 Egyptian pounds in compensation.

Officials said the search for survivors Saturday was hampered by the narrow area in the waterway where the collision occurred.

A series of road, rail and sea accidents in Egypt in recent years has triggered an outcry over the government's handling of transport safety.

In February 2006, a ferry in the Red Sea caught fire and sank en route to Egypt from Saudi Arabia, killing 1,034 of the roughly 1,400 people on board, many of them poor Egyptians.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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