On September 21, 2016, a boat capsized off the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian coast with around 600

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s on board in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. 204 bodies were recovered (including at least 30 children), around 160 people were rescued, and hundreds of people remain missing, with approximately 300 people presumed dead. Four people were arrested for trafficking and breaking capacity laws. The incident was the worst in 2016 in the Mediterranean Sea.

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An Egyptian

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

named Elhamy Agina reacted to the incident by stating that the victims of the disaster "deserved to die" and "do not deserve sympathy", causing controversy after an emergency cabinet meeting between President

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...

and Egypt's security chiefs.

References

2016 in Egypt Migrant shipwreck Maritime incidents in Egypt September 2016 events in Egypt Transport disasters involving refugees of the Arab Winter (2011–present) {{Egypt-stub Migrant boat disasters in the Mediterranean Sea

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See also

References