Cairo: An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced the owner of a boat to 10 years in prison over a mishap in which nine Christian girls on a Nile outing drowned earlier this month.
The court found Ali Esawi guilty of manslaughter and negligence over the sinking of his boat on July 15 in the River Nile south of Cairo on July 15.
The boat was overloaded with 19 girls aged between nine and 18 years, while it was licensed to carry 15, the court was told. The picnic was organised by a church in Maadi, south of Cairo.
Public river boats in Egypt are often overloaded and fail to comply with safety standards. In December 2007, 16 people were killed when their ferry boat capsized in the Nile in Minya, south of Cairo.
