2006年VOA标准英语-At Egyptian Port, Relatives Wait for News（在线收听）

By Robert Berger
Safaga, Egypt
05 February 2006

Friends and relatives crowd in front of a line of police to hear the names of survivors of Friday's ferry sinking being read out over a loudspeaker outside the port in Safaga in Egypt, February 5, 2006   
  
At the Egyptian port of Safaga, family members are waiting for word on the fate of loved ones who were on board a ferry that caught fire and sank in the Red Sea. Police say more than 400 survivors have been rescued and nearly 200 bodies recovered, but about 700 people are missing. Robert Berger is at the port, and, in this on-scene report, he tells VOA, people are desperate for news of loved ones.

------------------------------------------------

Frustration has turned into outbursts of grief here at the Egyptian port of Safaga. A woman is walking down the street, her hands raised in the air. She is weeping for her son.

"How long must I wait," she is saying. "Why won't the authorities tell us anything. I just want to know," she says, "whether he is dead or alive."

Hundreds of people are waiting outside the port for the third straight day, with little news about their loved ones. Every few hours, a police commander reads the names of survivors over a loud speaker. But only about 30 names, or so, are read, and most people walk away disappointed.

The expression on people's faces reflects more fear than hope. They know that, with each passing hour, the chances of finding survivors grow more slim.