Submersible vehicle with 45 tourists sinks off Hurghada, Egypt, 6 killed

Four Russian tourists died in a submersible accident at the Egyptian resort of Hurghada, the Russian Consulate General reported.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Hurghada hotels

"The accident occurred on board the Sindbad sightseeing submersible at about one kilometre from the shore. The vehicle belongs to the hotel of the same name. The submersible was conducting a regular underwater excursion to view the coral reef," the consulate stated.

In addition to crew members, there were 45 tourists on board, including children. All of them were Russian citizens, the consulate confirmed. The tourists had arrived in Egypt through Biblio Globus travel company, with the local tour operator in Egypt being ALS Tour. 

Most of the tourists were rescued, but four of them died. Reportedly, the submersible vehicle started sinking during the excursion.

According to most recent reports, the death toll from the accident has climbed to six. Nine people were hurt, four of them remain in critical condition. Several tourists went missing. 

According to unconfirmed reports, the submersible sank after hitting a reef. One of the two pilots of the watercraft lost control of the vehicle. The submersible capsized, and the cabin depressurized.

Details

Hurghada is a coastal city that serves as the largest city and capital of the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. Hurghada has grown from a small fishing village to one of the largest resort destinations along the Red Sea coast, stretching close to 40 km. Hurghada extends for about 36 kilometres (22 mi) along the coast, but does not reach far into the surrounding desert. The resort is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta and Upper Egypt, as well as package holiday tourists from Europe. Many of Hurghada's newer hotels, restaurants, and shops are located along El Mamsha. Most of the largest hotel resorts are located in the area between Mamsha and Sahl Hasheesh on El Mamsha. Beyond Sahl Hasheesh there are the hotels of Makadi Bay. Dahar is the oldest part of the town, where the traditional bazaar, post office and long-distance bus stations (Go Bus and Upper Egypt Bus) are situated. The busiest area is Sakala, the city center on Sheraton Road lined with hotels, shops and restaurants.