At least 12 people were killed in a migrant boat disaster in Egypt on Friday.

At least 12 people were killed in a migrant boat disaster in Egypt on Friday.

Naval vessels are searching for survivors, with 116 having been rescued from the wreckage so far.

The boat capsized off the coast at Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city.

An official told AFP that the people aboard the ship had been attempting to leave Egypt illegally.

Over 100,000 Syrian refugees have entered Egypt since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, and many have tried to join the groups leaving Egypt on illegal, overcrowded ships.

Earlier this month, over 300 migrants from African countries drowned in a separate migrant boat disaster, when their vessel caught fire and sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa as they tried to reach Europe.