Six Russian tourists die as submarine sinks off Egypt’s Red Sea coast

The tourist submarine from Sindbad sank off the coast of Hurghada in Egypt's Red Sea. Photo / Getty Images

• Six Russian tourists, including two minors, died when a submarine sank in Egypt’s Red Sea.
• Thirty-nine tourists were rescued, and investigations are under way to determine the cause of the accident.
• The vessel, carrying 45 tourists, crashed 1km from the shore during a coral reef excursion.

Six Russian tourists, including two minors, died on Thursday when a submarine carrying dozens of passengers sank off a major resort town on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.

The governor of Egypt’s Red Sea region, Amr Hanafi, said “39 foreign tourists had been rescued and six others killed, with no one missing”, according to a statement shared by his office, confirming that the six tourists were Russian.

Russian state news agencies quoted General Consul Viktor Voropaev as saying that two of the dead were minors.

The Russian consulate in the tourist hub of Hurghada earlier said the vessel had been carrying “45 tourists, including minors” on an underwater excursion to observe coral reefs when it “crashed 1km from the shore” about 10am local time (9pm Thursday NZ time).

Hanafi’s office said the vessel was carrying 45 tourists “of different nationalities including Russian, Indian, Norwegian and Swedish” and five Egyptian crew members.

The website of Sindbad Submarines, the vessel’s owner according to the Russian consulate, said it could carry 44 passengers and two crew members to up to 25m depth.

The consulate said that according to initial information, “most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada”.

Investigations were under way to determine the cause of the accident, the governor’s office said, adding that 21 ambulances had been dispatched.

The submarine “had a valid licence and its crew leader had the requisite academic qualifications”, they added.

“Six people were struggling under the water and we were able to pull them out,” a Sindbad employee told the governor in the hospital, according to a video shared by the governor’s office.

Four survivors, including at least one minor, were admitted to intensive care, according to the official statement.

Hurghada, a resort town about 400km southeast of the Egyptian capital Cairo, is a major destination for visitors to Egypt, with its airport receiving more than nine million passengers last year, according to state media.

Thursday’s forecast in the city was clear, with above average wind speeds reported but optimum visibility underwater.

While dozens of tourist boats sail through the area daily for snorkelling and diving activities, Sindbad Submarines says it deploys the region’s “only real” recreational submarine.

The vessel had been operational in the area for many years, according to a source familiar with the company.

The Red Sea’s coral reefs and islands off Egypt’s eastern coast are major draws, contributing to the country’s tourism sector, which employs two million people and generates more than 10% of GDP.

The area has been the site of several deadly accidents in recent years.

In November, a dive boat capsized off the coast of Marsa Alam, south of Hurghada, leaving four dead and seven missing.

Thirty people were rescued from another sinking boat, and last June two dozen French tourists were safely evacuated before their boat sank in a similar accident.

In 2023, three British tourists died after a fire broke out on their yacht, engulfing their vessel in flames.

In June 2023, another submarine, the Titan, imploded while on a dive to the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Five people died.

- Agence France-Presse (additional reporting NZ Herald)