MADINAH, 19 February 2006 — There are many sad stories from the sinking of the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 that was ferrying over 1,300 passengers between Saudi Arabia and Egypt on Feb. 3.
In an interview published in Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper last week, a survivor shared his terrible experience in hopes that his story would help encourage governments to crack down on unsafe passenger vessels.
“I was on my way to Egypt with my friends. I did not have a good feeling about this trip but when my friends insisted I went with them,” said Faisal Al-Sahli, an employee of the Saudi Electricity Company. “We are used to traveling on faster, newer boats, but at that time it was not available, so we chose the Al-Salam 98.”
When the ferry left port around 6 p.m., it was listing slightly. A fire broke out within site of the Saudi shore, yet the vessel plied on toward its destination. Before the fire broke out, Al-Sahli said he didn’t notice much trouble. He and his friends went to their rooms to sleep.
Four hours into the trip, the trouble started. Al-Sahli said that he heard a strong knock on the door. At first he thought it was one of the kids playing.
“A few minutes later, two members from the ship crew broke into the room and ordered us to go up on the deck because there was fire down below,” said Al-Sahli. “When we went out, the weather was extremely cold. We took jackets and blankets to keep us warm. We heard a voice from the ship’s speakers ordering us to go to one side to help balance the ship. The situation was terrible and the sea was rough. Two of my friends didn’t know how to swim so I gave them the two life vests that I had found. We saw an old woman crying. She said she too didn’t know how to swim. My friend gave her his life vest.”
Al-Sahli said that the crew told the passengers that the situation was under control, but then the fire spread to the first floor. The ship’s listing got worse. Al-Sahli said he remembers wondering why the captain did not decide then to turn back to the Saudi port. Instead, the ship plied forward toward its fate.
When the ship began sinking, Al-Sahli and his friends jumped into the cold water; his two friends died drowning. Al-Sahli survived by clinging to an upturned lifeboat. No one according to Al-Sahli knew how to use the lifeboats.
Al-Sahli has been traveling to Egypt on boats for 30 years and never once was he instructed on how to use lifeboats. One of the sad sights before the ship went down was that of a Saudi father kissing his children one by one and telling them good-bye. Al-Sahli saw strange things also of people who knew how to swim and drowned and people that did not know how to swim and managed to live. Some people sank because others were holding on to them to save themselves and instead died and took people with them.
“We were holding to the lifeboat with a number of people. Bodies of dead people were everywhere. Surprisingly, we found a young Egyptian girl alive and swimming and we took her on top of the boat,” said Al-Sahli. “We told her to smack anyone that is sleeping. Anyone that sleeps in the cold water will end up dead. We tied ourselves to the boat and we helped each other to stay awake. A few hours later, a lifeboat passed by us. It was full of people but we managed to give them the little girl and asked them to take care of her. Later, one of the men holding to the boat died. We untied him and sent him to the sea. In less than six hours, three people died. We were in terrible psychological shock because we knew one of us would be next.”
He continued, “At 1 a.m. we saw a big private boat called ‘Saudi Jeddah’ passing near us. We signaled to the boat with the light we had and it came to our rescue. We were given treatment as soon as we arrived in Egypt. I could not believe that I was alive and managed to pass this ordeal. When we arrived in Egypt, some people were giving us their mobile phones to call our families and comfort them that we are alive. This event will never be erased from my memory. I was thinking about my children and I am thankful to God for giving me a second chance. I never thought that I would make it. I will never forget my friend who didn’t know how to swim and yet gave his life vest to an old woman.”
