At least four bodies found after tourist yacht capsized in Egypt

The authorities of Egypt They recovered this Tuesday four lifeless bodies from the area where the ship sank yesterday tourist yacht ‘Sea Story’ in Marsa Alam, in the Red Seaand they were also able to save four other survivors after more than a day of rescue operations.

“Seven people were found, including three alive, and four bodies were recovered during the boat accident in Marsa Alam,” said in a first press release the governor of the Red Sea province, Amro Hanafi, specifying that two of the survivors are of Belgian origin. nationality and the other is Egyptian.

Later, he announced the rescue of a fourth survivor, a person of Swiss nationality, thanks to the efforts of the Navy team.

Until now, Egyptian authorities managed to rescue 36 peoplefour of them died, while members of the Egyptian army and other security forces continue to work to find nine others missing.

Hanafi indicated that the bodies of the four deceased have not yet been identified, while specifying that “the necessary medical care will be provided to the survivors”, whose state of health has not been revealed.

Diplomatic sources in Cairo informed EFE that among the survivors are five Spaniards that they were rescued yesterday and that they are fine.

Other tourists on board also included four Germans, two Belgians, one Chinese, two Americans, three Slovaks, two Swiss, four British, two Poles, two Norwegians, one Irish and one Finn, as well as four Egyptians, they said. declared to EFE. . sources from Egypt’s Red Sea province on condition of anonymity.

Two of the missing are British, according to official sources cited by the British press, while in “Sea Story”, they are also There were 13 Egyptians in the crew.

Egyptian authorities said the accident was caused “by a large sea wave which hit the ship and caused it to capsize suddenly and quickly, in about 5 or 7 minutes”, while “some of the passengers were inside the cabins, because “they didn’t manage to get off the ship.

Nevertheless, They continue the investigation to clarify the causes of the accident of this boat34 meters long and 9.5 meters wide, which sank in the Al Ghadeer region, near the Marsa Alam region, about 740 kilometers southeast of Cairo.

Security sources said the ship began a six-day diving trip on Sunday from the seaside city of Hurghada, also in the Red Sea, to an area of ​​Marsa Alam – further south – before running aground on the coral reefs and sink. the Al Ghadeer region.

“The control center of the Red Sea governorate received a distress signal at 5:30 a.m. (02:30 GMT) on Monday from a member of the boat who was carrying out a diving trip,” the sources explained.