Fourteen people died and three others were injured when a minibus that was on a ferry fell into the Nile in Beni Suef on Friday morning.
Around 34 residents from the village of Beni Haydar were traveling on the bus to visit a cemetery. The bus boarded the ferry at the town of Ashmant to cross the Nile, but during the crossing the bus fell into the Nile, carrying all the passengers with it.
Head of Beni Suef security Ahmed Shawky presented a report to head of emergency Sherif Ali Riyad regarding the accident.
A civilian protection group, headed by Ibrahim Qanous, and several ambulances transported the dead and injured from the scene. A number of Ashmant residents helped remove the bodies from the river and take the injured to Beni Suef General Hospital.
The deceased passengers include: Sayyid Mohammad Shalaby (age 22), Ikram Ahmad Hassan (35), Huwaid Ahmad Hassan (20), Rihab Ahmad Hassan (18), Huwaida Ahmad Korany (10), Sa’diya Mohammad Mu’awad (50), Afaf Ahmad Abdul Mawla (22), Naglaa Ahmad Abdul Mawla (25), Yusriya Mokhtar Abdallah (36), Shad Mahmoud Hassan, Maha Fawzi, Samar Hassan Mohammad (22), and Mostafa Mohammad (45).
Investigations undertaken by Zakaria Abu Zeina, head of the criminal investigation unit, revealed that Salah Radwan, the owner of the ferry, has a valid license. Radwan had rented the ferry to Abdul Monem Sayyid Mousa, who was driving the ferry when the bus fell off as the ferry tilted to the right.
Hamdi Farouk, general lawyer with the Beni Suef prosecution, ordered an investigation into the accident and the arrest of the owner of the ferry and the driver.
Beni Suef Governor Maher al-Domyaty went to the scene and requested the license of the ferry, and asked that the families of the victims be offered compensation for their loss.
