Egypt holds four suspected traffickers over migrant boat capsize

Cairo - Egyptian prosecutors remanded four men in custody on Thursday on suspicion of people trafficking after a migrant boat capsize in which dozens are feared to have drowned, judicial and security officials said.

The four suspects are accused of involuntary manslaughter and human trafficking, the officials said.

At least 42 bodies have been recovered from the sea after the disaster off the Egyptian coast on Wednesday. Rescue teams saved 163 of those on board.

The deadly accident comes months after the European Union's border agency Frontex warned that growing numbers of migrants bound for Europe were turning to Egypt as a departure point for the perilous sea voyage.

Traffickers often use barely seaworthy vessels and overload them to extract the maximum money in fares for the crossing from desperate migrants.

See also: Migrant boat carrying 600 capsizes off Egypt coast, killing at least 29

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