Egyptian officials turned down offers of help from the Royal Navy after a Red Sea ferry caught fire and sank with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, it was revealed today.

Rescue boats have picked up 435 survivors from the Egyptian ferry that caught fire and sank in the Red Sea, police said today as their officers struggled to hold back hundreds of people trying to push their way into the port of Safaga to get information about their loved ones among the ship’s 1,400 passengers and crew.

Coast Guard vessels have pulled dozens of bodies from the water today after an Egyptian passenger ferry carrying around 1,300 people (or up to 1,415 according to some reports), mostly Egyptian workers returning from Saudi Arabia, sank in the Red Sea overnight.

An Egyptian passenger ship carrying 1,300 people, including Muslim pilgrims returning from the hajj, has disappeared from radar screens in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast, Egyptian maritime officials said today. Bodies were spotted floating in the sea.

An Egyptian cruise ship with 1,300 people on board has disappeared from radar screens in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast, Egyptian maritime officials said today.