The driver of a party boat that sunk in the Nile leaving 38 dead has turned himself in to police on Sunday, state news agency MENA reported.

A security source told MENA that the driver, aged 20, was referred to the prosecution for questioning on Sunday.

Ahram Arabic news website reported that he will be detained for four days pending investigations.

The man said he escaped when the boat started sinking in the Nile River near Al-Warraq Island.

He claims to have also saved several passengers from drowning.

He also confirmed reports the boat was carrying more than its maximum capacity of passengers.

The man, however, claimed to the authorities that he was not the driver, explaining that he only collected fares.

Thirty-eight people died, according to the health ministry, when the chartered party boat collided last week with a cargo ship near Al-Warraq district in Giza, causing the chartered boat to capsize.

The skipper of the cargo ship was arrested shortly after the incident and is being detained pending investigations.

On Thursday, locals angered by the deaths, and families of those still missing, blocked off a main road near the site of the incident and chanted anti-government slogans.

The country’s deadliest boat accident occurred in February 2006 when a ferry sank in the Red Sea, killing more than 1,000 people.