At least 15 people have been killed on in a crash between a cargo vessel and a passenger boat on Egypt’s River Nile.

Family and friends of a young couple had hired the boat for an engagement party and were sailing north of Cairo when the crash happened, according to AFP news agency.

An Interior Ministry statement said 15 bodies had been found and six people were still missing.

The captain of the cargo boat has been arrested.

Five people were rescued from the water, but at least two children were killed.

It is not clear if the couple thought to be celebrating their engagement were among the dead, said AFP.