AT least 115 bodies of migrants have been pulled out of the water off the Egyptian coast after hundreds drowned when their overcrowded boat capsized.
Mohammed Sultan, the governor of Beheira province, said dozens more are feared dead.
Many of the dead are women and children who were unable to swim away when the boat sank in the Mediterranean on Wednesday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that the boat was packed with 450 people, while the state news agency MENA said earlier that the number might be as high as 600.
"UNHCR is deeply saddened by the loss of life after yet another boat capsized in the Mediterranean," the UN refugee agency said in a statement.
Of the 150 people rescued, UNHCR said the majority are Egyptians, Sudanese and other nationalities including Somalians and Eritreans. Four people described as smugglers were arrested on Thursday and authorities are investigating.
Egypt has been a traditional route of migrants to Europe by sea, but since 2014, UNHCR said, there has been a steady increase in the number being intercepted while trying to leave.
EU border agency Frontex recently said more than 12,000 migrants arrived in Italy from Egypt between January and September, compared with 7,000 in the same period last year.
More than 4,600 people of different nationalities were arrested this year, UNCHR said, a 28% increase on last year.
Near the Nile Delta city of Rosetta, at a small pier called el-Borg, hundreds of families gathered hoping to identify the bodies of their loved ones. Women screamed, and relatives pushed and shoved while swarming the ambulances heading to hospital.
Fishermen said they had difficulty collecting the badly decomposed bodies, with one saying: "We didn't know how to pull them."
The intense smell of decay filled the air and many covered their faces with masks.
Survivors and relatives said the boat sank nearly eight miles from the Egyptian coast and it took the coastguard around six hours to reach the scene. Fishing boats in the vicinity were the first to provide help.
