Red Sea yacht sinking: Sixteen missing 'including two Brits' in Egypt tourist boat tragedy

Two Britons are reported to beryllium among 16 radical missing aft a tourer vessel sank disconnected Egypt's Red Sea coast.

The Sea Story was carrying 44 including 31 tourists and 13 unit connected a multi-day diving travel erstwhile it went down adjacent the municipality of Marsa Alam, the Red Sea Governorate said successful a statement.

The BBC reported that it understands 2 of those missing are British.

Twenty-eight radical were rescued and had lone insignificant injuries specified arsenic bruises and scrapes with nary requiring hospitalisation, it said.

Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi said that preliminary reports suggested a abrupt ample question struck the boat, capsizing it wrong 5-7 minutes.

“Some passengers were successful their cabins, which is wherefore they were incapable to escape,” helium added successful the statement.

The governorate said a distress telephone was received astatine 5.30am (3.30am GMT) from the boat, which had departed from Porto Ghalib successful Marsa Alam connected Sunday with plans to instrumentality to Hurghada Marina connected November 29.

Egyptian equipped forces frigates and craft swept the country successful hunt of the missing, which section officials said included 12 overseas nationals, but by 5pm section clip (3pm GMT) the hunt had been paused for the night, a authorities root told Reuters.

The overseas nationals aboard the 34-metre-long vessel, owned by an Egyptian national, included Britons, Americans, Belgians, Chinese, Finns, Germans, Irish, Poles, Slovakians, Spanish, and Swiss.

Mr Hanafi said that Egypt is collaborating with embassies, consulates, and applicable authorities to facilitate documentation for the rescued passengers, who are existent being accommodated astatine a edifice successful Marsa Alam, and to guarantee their needs are met.

The UK Foreign Office said it is providing consular enactment to a fig of British nationals and their families and are successful interaction with the section authorities.

The Red Sea is simply a fashionable diving destination renowned for its coral reefs and marine beingness and is important for Egypt's captious tourism industry.

Mr Hanafi said that the vessel apt sank adjacent the Sataya Reef, without giving further information.

He said a thorough method reappraisal confirmed nary faults with the boat, which had passed its past inspection by the Maritime Safety Authority successful March 2024, receiving a one-year validity certificate.

The Egyptian Red Sea Ports Authority said successful a connection it had closed maritime postulation successful the country connected Sunday day erstwhile the upwind velocity reached 34 knots and question tallness reached 3-4 metres (10-13 ft).

This is the 2nd vessel to descend successful the country this year. In June, a vessel sank aft it suffered terrible harm from beardown waves, the Environment Ministry said astatine the time. No casualties were reported.