Six killed after tourist submarine sinks off Egyptian Red Sea coast

Six people were killed and nine injured when a tourist submarine sank off Egypt’s Red Sea coastal city of Hurghada, security and medical sources told dpa on Thursday.

The tourist submarine, named Sindbad, was carrying 44 people of different nationalities on a cruise around the coral reefs in the Red Sea, the sources said, adding that 29 people have been rescued.

According to media reports, 21 ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

According to the Russian consul general in Hurghada, Viktor Voropayev, at least four Russian tourists were killed in the accident. He told the Russian state news agency TASS that a total of 45 Russian tourists, including children, had been on board the vessel.

An Egyptian security source said the submarine suffered an engine failure, though investigations into the cause of the accident are still ongoing.

In November, a tourist boat capsized off the Egyptian Red Sea coast, near Marsa Alam city. Of the original 44 people on board, 33 survivors have been rescued. Several bodies were recovered while some people remain missing.

At the time, authorities said a large wave hit the boat, called Sea Story, and caused it to capsize.