12 survivors, 15 bodies picked up after ferry sinks

Egyptian maritime director Mahfouz Taha Marzouk has said 12 survivors and 15 bodies have been picked up from a passenger ferry that has sunk in the Red Sea.

An Egyptian passenger ship carrying about 1,300 people, mostly Egyptians, sank in the Red Sea overnight, and rescue ships arriving at the scene today pulled 15 dead and 12 survivors out of the water.

The 35-year-old El Salam 89 went down 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, said the head of the Egyptian Maritime Authority, Mahfouz Taha Marzouk