The day after the sinking of a tourist boat, rescuers discovered four bodies and three survivors off the east coast of Egypt on Tuesday, November 26, said Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi.
The ship that carried “31 tourists of different nationalities as well as 13 crew members”had launched distress signals on Monday at 5:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. in Paris), according to the Red Sea governorate. Amr Hanafi said in a statement Tuesday that the four bodies found had not yet been identified.
Among the three survivors were two Belgian tourists and an Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors to 31. “Rescue operations continue and find nine people still missing”he added.
Passengers of 11 nationalities
HE History of the sea He had left Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt, on Sunday for a multi-day diving expedition. It was due to arrive on Friday in Hurghada, 200 kilometers further north. According to the governorate, the ship, which belongs to an Egyptian citizen, was carrying passengers from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland.
The cause of the sinking is yet to be determined, but Egyptian meteorological services warned on Saturday of turbulence and high waves in the Red Sea and advised against all activity on Sunday and Monday, according to the Associated Press agency. Monday’s accident is at least the third of its kind reported this year near Marsa Alam.
The Red Sea, one of Egypt’s top tourist destinations, attracts millions of visitors each year. The tourism sector, crucial for this country of 105 million inhabitants in the midst of an economic crisis, employs around 2 million people and contributes more than 10% of its gross domestic product.
