Egypt submarine live updates: At least six feared dead as tourist submarine sinks in Red Sea
Six foreigners killed, local authority tells Reuterspublished at 11:44 Greenwich Mean Time
The local governorate’s office in Hurghada tells the Reuters news agency that six foreigners, whose nationalities are unknown, were killed in the Red Sea submarine incident.
That tallies with the BBC’s reporters in Egypt, who also say six people are feared dead.
The Russian embassy in Egypt says at least four people were killed, and that all tourists on board were Russian.
Are you in Hurghada? We want to hear from youpublished at 11:33 Greenwich Mean Time
If you’re in the area around Egypt’s Hurghada, we’d like to hear from you as this incident develops.
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Russian embassy in Egypt says all tourists on submarine were Russianpublished at 11:25 Greenwich Mean Time
We’re still waiting to get more details on the incident, but the Russian Embassy in Egypt says that all of the tourists on board were Russian.
In a post on Facebook, it says 45 passengers were on the vessel, including children.
The post adds that four people have died, and they are waiting for information on several more passengers.
The incident happened at around 10:00 local time, around 0.6m (1km) from the shore, it says.
As a reminder, sources have told the BBC that six people are feared dead. We’ve contacted officials in Egypt, as well as Russia, to find out more and we’ll bring you the latest as we get it.
Where the submarine sankpublished at 11:04 Greenwich Mean Time
The tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada early on Thursday, the BBC understands.
The city is a popular tourist destination known for its beaches and coral reefs.
Sindbad has been operating for several yearspublished at 10:50 Greenwich Mean Time
Wael Hussein
Reporting from Cairo
Sindbad has been running tourist trips in the Hurghada area for several years.
The company says it holds two of the only “14 real recreational submarines” in the world.
The company allows tourists to travel 25 metres (82 feet) deep in the sea to explore “500 metres of coral reef and its marine inhabitant”.
The website for Sindbad Submarines continues: “It offers 44 passenger seats – two pilots’ seats and a sizable round viewing window for each passenger.”
Egypt’s Red Sea coast has history of tourist boat accidentspublished at 10:42 Greenwich Mean Time
This is not the first incident involving tourist boats in Hurghada.
In November, a tourist boat called the Sea Story sank, leaving 11 dead or missing – including a British couple – and 35 survivors.
At the time, Egyptian authorities attributed the disaster to a huge wave of up to 4m (13ft) – but the BBC spoke to survivors who said there were safety issues.
UK investigators said last month there had been 16 incidents involving “liveaboard” vessels in the area in the last five years, with a number resulting in deaths.
Image source, Getty Images
The Sea Story yacht, which sank in the Red Sea in November
Submarine sank close to the harbourpublished at 10:30 Greenwich Mean Time
Breaking
Our team in Cairo say the submarine is called Sindbad, and sank close to the harbour.
The boat has been in operation for years. We’ll bring you more details on this developing story as we get it.
Image source, Sindbad Submarines
A picture on the Sindbad Submarines website – the BBC cannot confirm if this is the exact type of boat involved in the incident
Six feared dead in tourist submarine accident in Red Seapublished at 10:28 Greenwich Mean Time
Breaking
Sally Nabil
Reporting from Cairo
At least six people are feared dead, with nine others injured, after a tourist submarine sank off the coast of the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada early on Thursday, local sources tell the BBC.
Twenty-nine others were rescued. The injured, including four in critical condition, were transferred to nearby hospitals.
It is believed that the around 40 tourist passengers were on board the submarine.
