Fire may have doomed ferry

Reported here:

Survivors visibly suffering from the effects of cold have been coming ashore at the Egyptian port of Hurghada early on Saturday, describing how the fire burned on board before the ship finally sank.

One shouted: "It was like the Titanic on fire," according to the AP news agency.

The fire started less than two hours after the ferry sailed from Duba in Saudi Arabia on Thursday night, survivors said.

"There was thick smoke. We asked why and they told us they were putting out the fire but it got worse," Rifat Said, from from Giza near Cairo, was quoted by Reuters agency as saying.

"The ferry sailed on for two hours listing to the side. Then it just went onto its side and within five minutes it had sunk."