Children among 21 dead as engagement party boat sinks in River Nile crash

At least 21 people celebrating an engagement were killed on the Nile north of Cairo when a cargo ship hit their chartered boat. At least two children were killed as the boat sank soon after the collision. Family and friends of a young couple had hired the boat to celebrate their engagement but it was not clear whether the couple were among the dead. Rescue efforts were continuing on the river, while the the cargo ship captain and his deputy have been arrested. Traffic along the Nile has been busier than usual, with Egyptians hiring party boats in their droves to celebrate the feast which follows the holy month of Ramadan. Although boating collisions are frequent along Egypt’s coast, this is the deadliest accident in the region since February 2006, when more than 1,000 people were killed after a passenger ferry sank.

Middle East nile boat