In Egypt, 2 Die as Truck Slides off Ferry, Plunges into Nile

The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP
The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP
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In Egypt, 2 Die as Truck Slides off Ferry, Plunges into Nile

The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP
The wreckage of the boat was pulled from the water on Thursday morning. AFP

At least two people died and eight were still missing Tuesday after a small truck they were riding in slid off a ferry and plunged into the Nile River, said authorities in Egypt.

The accident happened just outside of Cairo on Monday, in the town of Monshat el-Kanater in Giza province, the office of the public prosecutor said in a statement.

The statement said the driver lost control of the truck while the unlicensed, rickety ferry was transporting it across the river. The truck was carrying 24 workers, including children, returning home from a farm where they worked, it said.

Fourteen were rescued, and rescue workers were still searching for the missing, it said.

Authorities have arrested the truck diver and three ferry workers, and were searching for the ferry's owner, the statement said.

Ferry, railway and road accidents are common in Egypt mainly because of poor maintenance and the lack of regulations.



Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday he hopes to have good things to report about Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Witkoff, at a press conference held by Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, said: "I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the President."

Republican Trump said of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 2024 attack on Israel: "If the hostages are not back by the time I'm in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone."