Six tourists die in submarine sinking in Red Sea
At least six people have died after a tourist submarine sank off the coast of Egypt in the Red Sea. All of them were Russian citizens. The accident occurred off the coast of the Egyptian tourist city of Hurghada on Thursday. Local government officials confirmed this information to Reuters.
The Russian consulate in Hurghada said that the submarine was called the ‘Sindabad’. It was carrying 45 Russian tourists, excluding the crew. Four of them died in the accident.
The Russian consulate said that most of those on the submarine had been rescued. Some of them were taken to their hotels and some to a hospital in Hurghada. However, the fate of many of the tourists was not yet certain, the Russian consulate said. Local media reports said that rescue teams had rescued 29 of the 45 passengers.
The Red Sea is famous for its coral reefs and marine life. It is a big draw for Egypt’s tourism industry. The number of Russian tourists in Egypt is gradually increasing.
Last November, a tourist diving boat in Egypt sank in minutes after hitting a powerful wave. Four people died. Thirty-three were rescued. In June, another boat sank in a storm, Egypt’s environment ministry said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Egypt earned the most from tourism among African countries in 2024, at $14.1 billion, more than double the country’s revenue from the Suez Canal. The tourism sector has become crucial to the struggling economy, according to a recent United Nations report.
