Egyptian authorities announced Monday that 28 people had been rescued and search operations were underway to find 17 others after a tourist boat sank off Egypt’s Red Sea. The ship, which was carrying “31 tourists of different nationalities as well as 14 crew members,” sent distress signals at 5:30 a.m. local time, according to a statement from the Red Sea governorate.
The Sea Story, a cruise ship specializing in diving, left Port Ghalib in southeastern Egypt on Sunday for a multi-day expedition. He was due to reach Hurghada, 200 kilometers further north, on Friday.
A military ship mobilized
The region’s governor, Amr Hanafi, said survivors were rescued during an air operation, while others were evacuated aboard a military ship. “Research continues actively in collaboration with the navy and the armed forces,” he said in a statement.
The authorities did not communicate the nationality of the tourists on board or discuss the possible causes of the accident. The Red Sea, one of the main tourist destinations in Egypt, attracts millions of visitors every year. The tourism sector, crucial for this country of 105 million inhabitants in the midst of an economic crisis, employs around two million people and contributes to more than 10% of its GDP.
A black series
Monday’s accident is at least the third of its kind reported this year near Marsa Alam on 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. Every day, dozens of dive boats explore the coral reefs and islands off Egypt’s eastern coast, where strict safety rules are unevenly enforced.
