Egypt tourist boat 'took 5 minutes to sink amid fears 16 missing including Brits were trapped'

The boat, named Sea Story, is thought to person sunk adjacent to fashionable diving destination Shaab Satayah, disconnected the seashore of the tourer edifice of Marsa Alam successful Egypt's Red Sea

A luxury yacht connected a travel successful the Red Sea took conscionable 5 minutes to descend aft being deed with a monster wave.

Sixteen of the 45 passengers are inactive missing, including 2 British nationals aft the SeaStory vas flipped connected its broadside earlier being sucked to the bottommost of the water by a freak wave.

According to section media outlet Masrawy, the diving travel departed from Porto Ghalib Port successful Marsa Alam connected Sunday and was expected to instrumentality to the larboard of Hurghada connected November 29 with 45 radical connected board, including 14 Egyptian unit members. The 31 tourists included 4 British and 2 American nationals.

Egyptian authorities person present confirmed 28 radical person been rescued with immoderate being airlifted arsenic hunt operations continued for the 17 others inactive missing.

Amr Hanafi, Governor of the Red Sea, explained however the "large wave" crashed into the ship, starring it to descend successful a substance of minutes. He said: "The archetypal origin of the accident, according to the accounts of foreigners and the Egyptian crew, was a ample question from the oversea that deed the boat, causing it to capsize. The substance was abrupt and fast, arsenic it took astir 5 oregon 7 minutes, and immoderate of the passengers were wrong the cabins, which is the concealed down their inability to get retired of the boat."

Many of the individuals being searched for are said to beryllium experienced divers, Hanafi added. One rescued passenger, who dives professionally, recalled seeing the h2o travel crashing into the vessel during the fearfulness five-minute ordeal.

They said: “I was connected the aboveground erstwhile things started to spell wrong. I felt the vessel tilting sharply, and I tried to clasp connected to thing stable, but the capsizing was precise fast.

"I heard screams from wrong the cabins, but galore were incapable to get retired due to the fact that the doors were closed and the spot was filled with water."

Another added: "It was transportation achromatic and the h2o was each astir us. I tried to aquatics up but the existent was truthful beardown I felt similar I was suffocating. What saved maine was my beingness overgarment that kept maine connected the aboveground until rescue teams arrived.”