Sole sea tragedy survivor treated in Malta

The sole survivor of the Kephi tragedy was flown to Malta yesterday morning, two days after the cargo ship sunk 325 miles off the island, leaving 16 crew members missing, presumed dead.

The Armed Forces' rescue coordination centre was involved in a medical evacuation to recover the only survivor of the vessel from on board the American sealift command mv Merlin.

The survivor, a 28-year-old Egyptian second officer, was admitted to St Luke's Hospital Emergency Department after he sustained fractures to his right shoulder. He was also treated for shock.

He was, however, found to be in good health and was released shortly afterwards, where he was assisted by the Egyptian embassy. He is to be flown back to Egypt shortly.

Two corpses recovered from the sea were brought to Malta by a rescue boat of the AFM Maritime Squadron last night.

The bodies were transferred from mv Titov to the rescue boat approximately one mile off Delimara. The search for more bodies continued yesterday to no avail. Rough seas and bad weather made the search extremely difficult, an AFM spokesman said.

The Comoros-registered cargo ship, which was carrying cement, sunk in gale force winds early on Friday.

Carrying 16 Egyptians and one Greek, the vessel was sailing from Istanbul to a West African port. British and US-flagged ships rushed to the area but were able to spot only one lifeboat with two crew aboard.

The AFM denied media reports that the second crewman, rescued by a Russian vessel, had survived.