16 people are missing after the sinking of a tourist boat off the coast of Egypt on Monday, November 25. Searches continue to try to find them.
Their excursion to the Red Sea turned into a tragedy. 16 of the 44 passengers on a tourist boat went missing this Monday, November 25 after their ship sank off the coast of Egypt, Egyptian authorities announced.
• A “sudden” wave hit the boat
The Sea Story boat left Port Ghalib in southeastern Egypt on Sunday for a multi-day diving expedition. He was due to reach Hurghada, 200 kilometers further north, on Friday.
But the ship sent out distress signals at 5:30 a.m. local time, according to a statement from the Red Sea governorate.
Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi said that, according to initial reports, “a sudden and large wave” hit the boat, causing it to capsize. Some passengers were unable to escape because they were in the cabins.
• Research continues “actively”
The boat was carrying “31 tourists of different nationalities as well as 13 crew members,” authorities said.
According to Amr Hanafi, survivors were evacuated during an air operation and others aboard a military ship.
“Research continues actively in collaboration with the navy and the armed forces” to find possible survivors, he said in a press release.
• Four Egyptians and 12 foreigners wanted
The boat, which is owned by an Egyptian national, was carrying passengers from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and of Ireland. Among the missing people are four Egyptians and 12 foreigners, the governorate said.
The Chinese embassy in Cairo said two of its nationals were “in good health” after being rescued.
The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed to AFP that one of its nationals was missing. Likewise, Berlin indicated that “German citizens were missing after the tragic accident in the Red Sea.”
• The third accident of the year in the Red Sea
Dozens of dive boats explore coral reefs and islands off Egypt’s eastern coast every day, where strict safety rules are unevenly enforced.
Monday’s accident is at least the third of its kind reported this year near Marsa Alam in the Red Sea. In early November, 30 people were rescued after a diving boat sank near the famous Deadalus Reef.
Last June, around twenty French tourists were evacuated unharmed before their boat sank in a similar accident. A year earlier, three British tourists lost their lives when a fire burned their yacht to ashes.
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