CAIRO-An Egyptian court Saturday sentenced a boat owner, accused of killing 10 girls during a Nile outing, to 10 years in jail.
The mishap occurred on July 15 when the pleasure boat capsized in Maadi, south of Cairo, apparently due to overloading. The same court, meanwhile, sentenced the brother of the boat owner to six months in prison and ordered him to pay LE1,000 in fine.
The boat was on a Nile trip organised by a church in Maadi and had 19 females on board which was more than the boat could handle, according to policet.
The outing was for girls aged between 10 and 18 years old.
Public river boats in Egypt are often overcrowded and passenger manifests are often absent or inaccurate, but the boat which sank was not a large vessel.
