A submarine carrying Russian tourists sank off Egypt’s Red Sea coast on Thursday, leaving at least six people dead and rescue workers scrambling to pull people out of the water, local officials said.
The vessel was carrying 45 people on a tour of the coral reef off the coast near Hurghada, a popular resort city nearly 300 miles southeast of Cairo. Rescue workers had pulled 39 people from the waters, all foreign tourists, Amr Hanafi, the governor of Egypt’s Red Sea Province, said. All the passengers were accounted for, he added.
The Russian Embassy in Egypt said in a statement on social media that four Russian tourists had died.
The vessel was less than a mile from the shore when it sank at around 10 a.m. local time, the embassy said. The submarine was owned by the Sindbad resort in Hurghada, according to the embassy. Recreational submarines are popular among tour operators along the strip of vacation towns and resorts for exploring the area’s colorful coral reefs.
The Sindbad resort owns two submarines that are able to dive about 25 meters, or 82 feet, underwater, according to an archive of its website captured in January. The section of the site describing the vessels appeared to be online early Thursday but was missing later in the day. The vessels could seat 44 tourists, according to the site, along with two crew members.
Staff members who responded to calls to the resort’s front desk said the vessel that sank had belonged to Sindbad, but declined to provide their names. The hotel did not respond to requests for comment.
The Russian Embassy said the tour had been organized by Biblio Globus Egypt Tours. The company, which is based in Hurghada, according to records from the Egyptian Travel Agents Association, could not be reached and its website was down.
The vessel had a valid license and its captain had the proper training, the governor, Mr. Hanafi, said.
Egypt has a history of problems involving tourist boats. Britain’s Maritime Accident Investigation Branch issued a warning last month about safety issues on Red Sea dive boats where passengers stay aboard.
The agency’s report cited 16 accidents involving such vessels over the past five years, resulting in several deaths. It said the vessels were often poorly constructed, with substandard emergency routes, or run by operators who were not properly trained to respond in emergency situations.
In November last year, four people died when a boat carrying 44 passengers sank during a six-day diving trip from Marsa Alam, another Red Sea resort. The trip was supposed to end in Hurghada.
