At least 10 killed commuting in unlicensed ferry at deadly Mansheyet al-Qanater crossing

At least ten were killed on Tuesday in a tragic incident in which a microbus transporting more than 20 women to work, including at least three reported to be minors, fell off an Abu Ghaleb ferry in the Mansheyat al-Qanater area.

Social media users have been calling the affected workers “victims of earning a living” who sustained their families and were on their way to work when they found themselves facing death.

Tuesday’s incident is the latest example of frequent and deadly public transportation accidents taking place across the country due to inadequate maintenance. Another incident took place at the same site in February, when eight laborers for a contracting company died on their way to work while others were injured. Due to the repeated accidents, commuters in the area dubbed the Abu Ghaleb ferry “the death ferry.”

According to the Giza Security Directorate’s investigations, the microbus driver, who turned himself in to authorities, got out of the vehicle to fight with another driver on the ferry and forgot to push the brakes, leading the microbus to slide into the Nile river. 

The microbus departed from a village in Ashmoun center in Monufiya Governorate and was carrying a number of young girls and women who work for a fruit export company, as per the investigations.

Reports varied regarding the number of casualties and passengers who were on the bus. The public prosecution said in a statement on Wednesday that 25 "young women" were on the bus, of whom 11 were found dead and five are still missing. Seven survived and two were found injured, the prosecution said.

A few hours later, an unnamed security source told the privately owned Al-Shorouk that 14 of the workers who were on the bus were killed and nine others were rescued, with rescue operations ongoing for the three still missing.

A Health Ministry statement on Tuesday said that three were found injured and were transported to the Sheikh Zayed Central and Wardan Central hospitals.

Families of the victims of the incident, fishermen and river rescuers helped in the rescue operations, reports added, and civil defense forces resumed search and rescue operations on Wednesday.

Other than holding the bus driver responsible for “inaction” in controlling the bus brakes, the public prosecution also blamed the person responsible for operating the ferry for not closing its rear iron door and therefore causing the vehicle to sink in the river.

Investigations also found that the ferry’s operating license had expired in August last year. Rejecting responsibility for the incident, a transport ministry statement said that three reports have been filed to stop the ferry from operating, adding that an “urgent joint committee” has been appointed in cooperation with the maritime police to shut down all ferries with expired licenses or not conforming with safety requirements. 

The bus and ferry drivers were arrested and are to undergo drug testing, while a committee is set to head to the place of the accident to inspect both vehicles. The North Giza Prosecution is investigating the bus driver along with two ferry employees on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Tuesday’s incident is not a one-off, however. According to CAPMAS’ annual bulletin of car and train accidents, the number of road accident injuries reached 71,016 in 2023, a 27 percent increase from 55,991 in 2022.

Eyewitnesses and residents of the area told a reporter from the talk show Ala Mas’ouleyety (On My Responsibility) on Tuesday that a bridge linking both sides of the river has been under construction for several years now, explaining that its eventual presence could reduce the frequency of accidents.

Attempting to compensate the families were the governors of Giza and Monufiya, who visited the site of the incident on Tuesday. Monufiya’s governor directed the disbursement of LE50,000 to the victims’ families and the provision of meals as they waited for the bodies of their relatives in front of the hospital.

In a similar gesture, Labor Minister Hassan Shehata also directed the disbursement of LE200,000 for each deceased and LE20,000 for each injured person as part of the “accidents clause” that the ministry introduced to the irregular labor system to deal with emergency accidents for irregular workers.