A submarine that carried Russian tourists sank on Thursday off the coast of the Egyptian Red Sea, leaving at least six dead people and bailouts who climb to bring people out of the water, said local officials.
The ship transported 45 people to a tour of the coral reef off the coast near Hurghada, a popular city of resorts almost 300 miles south -East of Cairo. The rescue workers had pulled 39 people from the waters, all foreign tourists, Amr Hanafi, governor of the province of the Egyptian Red Sea. All passengers have been accounted for, he added.
The Russian embassy in Egypt declared four Russian tourists in a statement on social media.
The ship was less than a mile from the shore when he sank at 10 in the morning, said the embassy. The submarine was owned by the Sindbad Resort in Hurghada, according to the embassy. The recreational submarines are popular among the tour operators along the Strip of Vacation Cities and Resorts to explore the colorful coral reefs in the area.
The Sindbad Resort has two submarines capable of diving for about 25 meters, or 82 feet, underwater, according to an archive of its website captured in January. The section of the site that described the ships seemed to be online at the beginning of Thursday but was missing later during the day. The ships could host 44 tourists, according to the site, together with two crew members.
The staff members who responded to calls to the resort reception said that the ship that has sunk belonged to Sindbad, but refused to provide their names. The hotel did not respond to requests for comment.
The Russian Embassy said that the tour had been organized by the Tour of Biblio Globus in Egypt. The company, which is based in Hurghada, according to the records of the Egyptian Travel Agents Association, has not been reached and its website was inactive.
The ship had a valid license and its captain had adequate training, said the governor, Mr. Hanafi.
Egypt has a history of problems involving tourist boats. The branch of the investigations on the British maritime accident issued a warning last month on safety issues on the diving boats of the Red Sea where the passengers remain on board.
The agency report has mentioned 16 accidents that involved these ships over the past five years, causing several deaths. He said that ships were often poorly built, with scarce or operators’ emergency routes that were not adequately trained to respond in emergency situations.
In November last year, four people died when a boat that transported 44 passengers sank during a six -day diving journey from Marsa Alam, another resort of the Red Sea. The trip should have ended up in Hurghada.