JEDDAH/CAIRO: Mamdouh Ismail, the wealthy owner of a ferry that sank three years ago in the Red Sea, killing more than 1,000 people, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter yesterday and sentenced to seven years in prison for failing to react quickly to save victims who were left stranded in the water for hours, said a court official.
Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 sank in February 2006 after fire broke out in its vehicle bay while traveling from Saudi Arabia to Egypt. Most of the more than 1,000 victims were Egyptian workers returning home.
Hundreds of victims’ relatives who packed the courtroom in the Red Sea port city of Safaga responded to the verdict with applause and shouts of “long live justice.”
Ayed Al-Marri, one of the Saudi passengers who was on the ferry, said the verdict would encourage other survivors of the disaster to take legal action against the company in order to win their rights. Three passengers have already filed cases against the ferry’s owners.
Relatives of Egyptian victims told Arab News that they were disappointed by the previous court’s decision acquitting all suspects except the captain of St. Catherine, who was sentenced to six months in prison.
Jamal Abu Rayya, who lost his brother, said the rejection of the earlier verdict by the Egyptian attorney general had strengthened people’s confidence in judiciary.
Ismail had tried to win waivers from the relatives of victims.
“But many people were not ready to waive their claims accepting money and wanted the court to give its verdict on the ship owner and other suspects,” Abu Rayya said. The appeals court sentenced Ismail in absentia because he and two officials from his company who were also charged in the case fled the country shortly after being ordered to stand trial.
— With input from agencies
