The families of the more than 1,300 passengers who were on board the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 when it sank around 0100 GMT on Friday had been waiting in an area usually dedicated to pilgrims on the edge of the southeastern port of Safaga.

An AFP reporter on the ground said that at least 300 of them muscled their way through several cordons of riot police to rush towards the docks in search of their loved ones, prompting a wild chase in the port area.

"Where is my father?", "Where is my son?", shouted people from the crowd as a high-ranking military official tried to appease them and promised to read out the names of the survivors.

Search and rescue operations continued but hope of finding passengers who survived low night time temperatures was fast receding.

Egyptian public television announced that 324 survivors were pulled out of the Red Sea but only a few dozen were confirmed to have reached Safaga or the larger port of Hurghada further north.

A police official in Safaga said late Friday that 185 bodies had been recovered.

Anger mounted among the hundreds of Egyptians, mainly poor families from rural areas whose relatives had sought better paid jobs in Gulf countries as President Hosni Mubarak reportedly prepared to visit Safaga.

Government employees could be seen hastily applying a fresh layer of paint on the town's pavements.

"They are too busy preparing the president's visit and they don't have time to care about our sons," said one angry Egyptian.