Officials say four members of the vessel’s crew are facing echarges of human trafficking and manslaughter.

Authorities in Cairo have also issued arrest warrants for five more people wanted in connection with the tragedy off the port city of  Rosetta on Wednesday.

They say they don’t have an exact number of people on board in the ill-fated boat, but 250-400 seems likely. 157 people were rescued.

An initial breakdown of the nationalities of the migrants shows t they included 111 Egyptians, mostly teenagers and men in their 20s.

There were also 25 Sudanese, while the rest were sub-Saharan Africans and Syrians.

The search for bodies continues.

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Rescuers are still taking bodies from the water after a boat carrying about 600 people capsized.

150 people have been recovered.

The Egyptian army says it thwarted an illegal immigration attempt.

The boat was 12 nautical miles off the coast when it sank.

In the city of Rosetta, Egyptian families gathered near the harbour urging authorities to do more in their search and rescue effort for their loved ones who were among the lost.

Local officials say the migrants were from several African countries.

The boat had likely come from Kafr el-Sheik province, further to the east.

EU border agency Frontex says more than 12 000 migrants arrived in Italy from Egypt between January and September, compared to 7 000 in the same period last year.

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At least 10 bodies have been recovered and 150 people rescued.

The  rescue operation off the Mediterranean city of Rosetta is in full swing at this hour.

Police officers says search teams are looking for survivors.

The incident comes months after the head of the EU’s border agency warned that growing numbers of Europe-bound migrants were turning to Egypt as a departure point for the perilous journey.

Smugglers often overload the boats, some of them scarcely seaworthy, with passengers who have paid for the journey.

More than 10 000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014.

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