Cairo: Twenty-two people drowned on Friday when a bus on a ferry fell into the Nile River in a southern Egyptian province, state media reported, revising an earlier death toll down from 43.
The official MENA news agency put the death toll at 22, after initially reporting that 43 people died when the ferry capsized.
It said that the bus plunged into the river when the ferry crashed into the shore.
State television reported that rescue workers were looking for more victims and had transferred survivors to hospital.
Police officials put the toll at 17 dead and said five were still missing.
They said that the ferry was carrying a bus loaded with 32 passengers who were on their way to visit a graveyard. The rest of the passengers survived, they said.
The accident happened almost a year after five people drowned when their ferry capsized in the Nile in the suburbs of Cairo.
Transport accidents are common in Egypt and are often blamed on poor maintenance and neglect.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 00:25