The Egyptian navy rescue mission covered 900 square miles but has yet to find survivors
File photo: Egyptian boat (Photo: Al-Ahram)
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An Egyptian navy force tasked with rescuing fishermen whose boat capsised in Sudanese waters did not find any traces of the crew or the wreckage, an army spokesman said on his official Facebook page on Sunday.The rescue mission, consisted of a helicopter aboard a naval ship, searched a total of 900 square miles around the island near which the fishing boat is believed to have gone missing, army spokesman Mohamed Samir said.
The rescue mission started at 1:30am Cairo Local Time on Sunday and concluded at 6:00pm, the statement added. It is unclear whether or not the army will conduct another search.
carrying 14 Egyptian fishermen, the fishing boat capsised in Sudanese territorial waters on Saturday.
Sudanese authorities were able to rescue two of the 14 fishermen while the remaining 12 are still missing.
On Saturday night, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered Egyptian navy forces to move to Port Sudan to aid in the rescue mission.