Fire Extinguishers On Egyptian Ferry Were Unfit For Use

The fire extinguishers on board a ferry which caught fire during high winds and subsequently sank in February 2006 were unfit for use according to a parliamentary report.

The ferry disaster, the worst maritime incident in the history of Egypt, killed over 1000 people, and the owner of the ferry has now been found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 7 years in jail. The owner, who was a member of the upper house of parliament in Egypt, at the time of the accident, had originally been exonerated of any responsibility. This provoked outrage at the time with many people believing he was being protected via his political connections, but this decision has now been reversed.

Mamdouh Ismail was found guilty of negligence and manslaughter in his absence. Prosecutors had successfully appealed the original not guilty verdict. Two others from the ferry company were also found guilty of the same charges bur received lesser sentences of 3 years each. Families of the victims were in the courtroom in Safaga when the verdict was announced and were clearly overjoyed by the decision.

There were 1400 people, mostly poor labourers, on board the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 ferry which was sailing from Egypt to Saudi Arabia on the fateful day in February 2006. After it caught fire and sank in the Red Sea, 1034 of the passengers were killed, some of the bodies were never recovered.

The death toll was so high because the ferry owner did not immediately inform authorities that an incident was underway, so rescue efforts did not begin as quickly as they should have. The owner claimed that nobody on the ferry had informed him of the fire.

A parliamentary report on the tragedy found that safety regulations had been seriously violated by the owner. The safety certificates were forged, the life rafts and fire extinguishers were not fit for use, and there were not enough winches to lower life rafts into the sea.

Fire extinguishers must be suitable for the type of fire they are intended for and be regularly maintained and serviced in order to remain operable, this was not the case on board this ferry.

The owner no longer resides in Egypt. He left the country to live in the UK after a freeze on his assets was lifted and he was removed from a list of people banned from travel outside Egypt after he paid around USD 57 million into a compensation fund for the victims of the disaster and their families.