Keystone-SDA
A boat carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew members sank off the coast of the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam, local media reported Monday. Twenty-eight people were rescued, while 16 are still missing.
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November 25, 2024 – 8.36pm
(Keystone-ATS) The governorate indicated in a new report that of these 16 people missing, there are four Egyptians and 12 foreigners.
He added that the boat, which belongs to an Egyptian national, was carrying passengers from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, from Spain and Ireland.
Two Swiss were among the passengers, the region’s governor, Major General Amr Hanafi, previously told the German news agency dpa.
Sudden wave
The Sea Story, a cruise ship specializing in diving, launched distress signals at 5:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. Swiss), according to a press release from the Red Sea governorate. He left Port Ghalib, in southeastern Egypt, on Sunday for a several-day expedition. He was due to reach Hurghada, 200 km further north, on Friday.
Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi said that, according to initial reports, “a sudden and large wave” had hit the boat, causing it to capsize. Some passengers were unable to escape because they were in the cabins.
The governor 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.
Vessel inspected in March
According to Amr Hanafi, the ship had passed its last inspection in March 2024, without any technical problem being reported.
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.
3rd accident of its kind this year
Monday’s accident is at least the third of its kind reported this year near Marsa Alam. In early November, 30 people were rescued when a dive 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.
