The General Authority for River Transport announced in a statement issued this evening that a collision occurred between two floating hotels in the Esna lock area at 8 p.m. yesterday.
It explained that while the floating hotel named Opera was sailing from Aswan to Luxor, about 2 km after passing through the Esna lock, it was surprised by the captain of the cruise ship Beau Rivage, which was sailing from Luxor towards Aswan, making a sharp maneuver in front of it to stop at the International Garden mooring, in violation of navigation rules that give right of way to the cruising hotel moving with the direction of the water flow. The accident resulted in a dent in the bow of the Opera, the destruction of three cabins on the Beau Rivage and the death of a female guest on board the Beau Rivage. The license of the captain of the Beau Rivage was withdrawn and suspended, and the incident was referred to the competent prosecution.
