Nineteen people drown in shipwreck on Nile River in Cairo,Egypt Wednesday July 22,2015

 

At least 19 people died Wednesday July 22,2015 in a shipwreck on Nile River in Cairo, capital of Egypt, according to the statement from the Egyptian Interior Ministry.

The accident happened when a ferry carrying at least 30 people struck a barge and sank in the Warraq district of Giza, southwest of Cairo, at late night, said Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesman of the Egyptian Health Ministry

16 ambulances and two rescue boats have been dispatched to the site and the search for the missing ones is still underway. The injured people have been sent to four hospitals nearby.

Eyewitnesses at the site of the accident told 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.

Note

The Nile  is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa,generally regarded as the longest river in the world - 6,853 km (4,258 miles) long

The Nile is an "international" river as its water resources are shared by 11 countries, namely -

• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Rwanda
• Burundi
• Congo-Kinhasa,
• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Eritrea
• South Sudan 
• Sudan and
• Egypt