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Many survivors have been detained after being rescued
Many survivors have been detained after being rescued

42 bodies recovered so far in Egypt migrant boat disaster

Survivors from a boat which capsized off the Egyptian coast last Wednesday have told the BBC that hundreds of people may have drowned.

Authorities have rescued 163 people and recovered 42 bodies so far off the port city of Rosetta.

Four crew members have been arrested in connection with the incident, Egyptian officials have said.

They were suspected of involuntary manslaughter and human trafficking, judicial officials were reported as saying.

The incident came after the EU's border agency warned that increasing numbers of Europe-bound migrants were using Egypt as a departure point.

The UN said more than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean towards Europe since 2014.

The boat was kept off the coast for five days as more and more migrants were brought on board, survivors told the BBC  in Rosetta. Over 100 of those rescued were Egyptians.

The boat was carrying about 550 migrants when it capsized eight miles (12km) off the coast, they say.

Migrants were charged extra if they wanted to wear life jackets, she reports.

The boat was said to have capsized after a final group of some 150 people were crammed on board.

Authorities have been accused of failing to send help fast enough.

Anyone who was saved here, was saved by the local fishing boats," fisherman Abdelrahman Al-Mohamady told the Reuters news agency.

The victims so far include one child, 10 women and 31 young men, an official in Rosetta told AFP.

The boat was transporting Egyptian, Syrian, Sudanese, Eritrean and Somali migrants. Many survivors were being held in police custody.

Rescuers were focusing their efforts on the boat's cold storage room, where it was believed around 100 people took refuge during the capsize.

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