Moments of terror on the Nile where a cruise turned into tragedy. An Italian citizen died from injuries sustained after the ship she was traveling on collided with another vessel in the Luxor area, in southern Egypt, an area much frequented by tourists for its architectural, archaeological and natural beauty.
The deceased woman was called Denise Ruggeri, she was 47 years old and originally from Cagnano Amiterno in the province of L’Aquila. The woman was traveling with her husband and was injured when she fell in the cabin during the collision. The woman taught in a school in Pizzoli, also in the L’Aquila area.
The collision between the two boats near Luxor
According to an initial reconstruction of the event, it was just after 7pm local time, when the Royal Beau Rivage ship, on board which dozens of Italians were traveling, hit the boat about 30 kilometers from the well-known Egyptian location.
The ramming caused the destruction of four cabins of the Royal. The woman, reportedly originally from L’Aquila, was injured in a lung when she fell in her cabin and then, despite attempts to rescue her, she died shortly afterwards.
The Farnesina and the Italian consulate are following the case
The officials of the Italian consulate immediately got in touch with the spouse of the Italian citizen – whose details are not known at the moment – and with the tour operators who followed the other Italians present on the boat involved. The Farnesina has made it known that it is following the matter together with the Italian embassy in Cairo and checks are underway on the other Italians present on the ship. Having been informed of the facts, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani “follows the evolution”.
No other Italians involved according to the embassy
The Italian ambassador in Cairo, Agostino Palese, confirmed the dynamics of the accident, specifying that at the moment there is no news of the involvement of other Italians, they are all safe.
The precedents: when Nile cruises become a nightmare
It’s not the first time a Nile cruise turns into a nightmare. At the end of October a fire devastated a ship on board which about sixty Italians were travelling, who were later rescued.
The fire that broke out on board for reasons that are not entirely clear risked turning the compatriots’ journey into a tragedy. In April, however, six people lost their lives by drowning in the Nile, about a hundred kilometers from Cairo, after a microbus fell from a ferry.
Other dramatic accidents that occurred on the Egyptian river include that of 2013 when a cruise ship with 112 people on board sank near Aswan in the south of the country. The timely intervention of Egyptian security allowed the passengers, all of Egyptian nationality, to be saved.