SAFAGA, Egypt, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Survivors of a ferry that sank in the Red Sea say passengers begged the captain and crew to turn the ship around after a fire started below deck.
Smoke began to fill the upper decks within hours of leaving shore, but the ferry continued across the Red Sea on its way from Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt, The New York Times reported.
"Two hours after we left, smoke started coming out," said survivor Nazih Zaki. "They tried to put it out but it kept going. The crew told us it was nothing, but then they got us life vests to wear. We stayed cruising six hours at sea, and then the boat started to tip."
As of Saturday evening, only 389 survivors had been rescued and more than 180 bodies had been pulled from the sea. About 800 more people were still missing, the newspaper said.
The ship left the Saudi port of Daba shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday bound for Safaga, 120 miles across the Red Sea. Sometime around 2 a.m. another ferry heading in the opposite direction reported seeing lifeboats in the water.
