Egypt has referred two maritime officials to trial for their role in the capsizing of a migrant boat that led to the deaths of over 200 people earlier this year, state news agency MENA says.
The boat that was carrying about 450 people sank off Egypt’s northern coast in September. 202 bodies were subsequently recovered from the sea while 169 people were rescued.
Egypt said it is committed to developing a strategy to combat what has turned into a growing smuggling industry along its northern seaboard. It passed a law in October aimed at curbing human trafficking.
Egyptian authorities arrested four crew members just after the boat capsized in September and opened an investigation.
A growing number of migrants have tried to cross to Italy from the African coast, particularly from Libya, where people-traffickers operate with relative impunity. But boats have increasingly departed from Egypt.
