Egyptian Ferry Disaster Update, Part II

More survivors were found overnight, and there are still more than 700 people unaccounted for. One would think that the Egyptians would have sent far more boats into the area to look for survivors than they have done thus far. They should have accepted the assistance of countries who could have provided assistance quickly - either through helicopter rescue or having ships in the vicinity.

A senior police officer in Safaga earlier reported the rescue of 67 more survivors from the disaster, which occurred after the vessel left the Saudi port of Duba late on Thursday en route for Safaga with more than 1,000 passengers on board.

Sixty-one of them were found during the night and arrived in the Egyptian port of Hurghada on Sunday. Six others arrived in Duba on Sunday, said the officer, who declined to give his name.

The new figures would bring the total number of survivors to more than 460, leaving about 700 people unaccounted for. Search teams have recovered 195 bodies.

Most of the survivors have been young Egyptian men working in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

Instead, who knows how many people died because rescue came too little too late. Relatives and friend have protested against the Egyptian government for not doing enough. And there's a lot of people wondering what the captain and crew did - and whether their actions were responsible for the disaster:

Ashraf Mohamed, one of those waiting for relatives, said: "There are officials on television but are there any here? No."

Rani Kamal, third officer on the ship, told the Arabic news channel Al Arabiya from a Saudi hospital the car deck had flooded during the firefighting operation, making the ship list. Government officials said earlier the blaze began in a vehicle.

"The ferry sank due to firefighting operations. Water flooded the garage (car deck), which is where the fire started, and it pooled on one side," he said.

"Then the water increased and increased until the ship listed sharply," said Kamal, rescued from a dinghy by Saudi coastguards. Passengers also reported a fire and listing.

The ship's captain, Sayed Omar, is unaccounted for. The second officer, who has been rescued, has spoken to the authorities but not to the media.

Passengers accused the captain and crew of negligence, saying Omar abandoned the ship before making sure all the passengers had left the vessel. They said crew prevented them from wearing lifejackets and did not get them into lifeboats.

Prior coverage: Egyptian Ferry Disaster Update, Mysteries at Sea.