Nile steamer capsizes during party, hundreds escape

CAIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) A Nile steamer capsized at its moorings at the south Egyptian town of Beni Suef during a wedding party yesterday night and nine people needed medical attention after fainting in the rush to escape, the state news agency MENA said today.

Provincial governor Ahmed Zaki Abdin told MENA that no one was killed in the incident and that contrary to reports during the night the boat did not sink.

Several hundred guests were attending the wedding party aboard the Princesa, which was tied up at moorings on the River Nile outside the police club in Beni Suef, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Cairo.

The vessel capsized at about midnight (2100 GMT) and police sources said at first they thought that dozens of party guests could be missing.

REUTERS AE BST1326