At least 15 people died when a crowded ferryboat sank in the Egyptian Nile river, local media reported Friday.
The deadly ferry mishap occurred on Thursday in the Kafr El-Sheikh governate, around 140 kilometers north of the capital city of Cairo, according to Daily Sabah. The boat was involved in trasportation of passengers from Kafr El-Sheikh's Sendion and Beheira's Derot.
The search and rescue teams recovered 15 bodies. The search for possible victims continued on Friday.
The cause of the mishap was not immediately known. Egyptian media outlets, however, reported that either passenger overload or bad weather conditions caused the sinking.
Kafr El-Sheik governor El-Sayed Nasr said in a media statement that an investigation is underway to find the cause of the accident, Ahram Online reported.
The boat was found in a preliminary investigation to be technically "unfit," as its license had expired eight months ago, according to APA.
Water transportation accidents, especially those involving ferryboats, are common in Egypt. More than 40 passengers died after a boat sank in the Nile river in July last year.
In the worst of water transportation accidents in recent history, at least 1,000 passengers were killed in the sinking of the Egyptian ferry al-Salam Boccaccio 98 in the Red Sea in 2006, according to Egyptian Streets.
