Boat sinking in the Suez Canal, one dead, three missing

An Egyptian boat sank in the Suez Canal, near Ismailia on wednesday morning. One man drowned, three others are missing, and six injured from the 40 man crew. The authourities have closed the canal, while conducting a search for the three crew members missing. The reason for the sinking of the boat is not known at this time.

This is the latest accident in a series, the latest month, starting with the Qalyoub train crashing that killed 58 people.

Last February about a thousand people died in a ferry accident en route from Duba in Saudi Arabia to Safaga in Egypt, carrying mainly Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia, the accident caused an uproar in Egyptian society, when the owner of the al Salam Boccacio 98, Mamduh Ismail, member of the Shura Council(Upper house of Parliament), first blamed the accident on the captain, who died with his ship, and the crew, and then managed to leave the country two weeks after, due to diplomatic immunity as memrber of the Upper house. The govrnment frooze his assets until he offered to pay 57 million USD into a compensation fund for the families of the victims. He will also be charged with manslaughter.