19 dead as boat capsizes in Nile

The boat was carrying at least 30 passengers.

At least 19 people were killed after a boat collided with a barge and capsized on the Nile river near here, Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The collision happened near Giza late Wednesday. The boat was carrying at least 30 passengers, said Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesman of the Egyptian health ministry.

The spokesman also said 16 ambulances and two rescue boats have been dispatched to the site and the search for the missing ones is still underway, Xinhua news agency reported.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that rescue boats and divers are working to search for the missing ones. However, the poor illumination and crowded river bank made the rescue work more difficult.