20110430
reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 20 people have drowned in the Nile while on a trip to visit the grave of a relative, Egyptian media reported on Saturday.

Al Masry Al Youm daily said five people were also missing after a minibus hired for the traditional graveyard visit slipped from the ferry that carried it across the river in Beni Suef province, south of Cairo, on Friday.

Al-Ahram newspaper quoted Hayat Taha Ali, one of the survivors, as saying the families were intending to mark the 40th day since the death of one of their relatives.

"The bus fell into the Nile while it was disembarking from the ferry and all I remember was being in the hospital," Ali said. Al Shorouk newspaper reported the ferry captain was detained for questioning.

A series of fatal transport accidents in recent years triggered an outcry against the government of former president Hosni Mubarak who was toppled in a popular uprising in February.