Three British tourists are missing after a scuba diving boat they were cruising in caught fire off Egypt’s Red Sea coastline on Sunday, authorities have said.
A further 12 British nationals were rescued along with 12 Egyptian crew members and were brought to safety at the nearby diving resort of Marsa Shagra, about 13 miles (21km) north of the town of Marsa Alam, according to a statement from the Red Sea State governor’s office and security sources.
The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit on the boat, which was named Hurricane and had been used for a trip since 6 June in an area just north of Marsa Alam, the statement said.
A spokesperson for Tornado Marine Fleet, the company operating the diving boat, said the incident occurred at Elphinstone, a reef 12km offshore known as a spot for diving with sharks.
“Today at 6.30am at Elphinstone, while doing the diving briefing, Hurricane caught fire,” they said.
“There are three missing British passengers out of 15 passengers. All other 12 passengers plus two guides and 12 crew were transported to another boat and reached the nearest land safely. Now, we are bringing the boat back to the marina under authority supervision.”
Mohamed Bendary, secretary general of Egypt’s Red Sea governorate, said preliminary investigations indicated that the fire had started in the boat’s engine room. Egypt’s public prosecution office was investigating the incident, he added.
A search party has been launched to find the remaining three British tourists, whose identities were not revealed.
Images posted on social media showed a white motor yacht named Hurricane on fire at sea, with thick smoke billowing into the sky.
“We saw smoke from the boat, it was around 9km from the beach,” said Ahmed Maher, a diving manager at Marsa Shagra village. “A nearby boat rescued them and dropped them off.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are in contact with local authorities following an incident aboard a dive boat near Marsa Alam, and are supporting British nationals involved.”
Fatal boat accidents are uncommon in Egypt. In 2021 a boat capsized in a lake near the city of Alexandria, leaving five people dead, of whom three were children.
In April, the Egyptian navy rescued 37 people from a tourist boat that had capsized in the Red Sea, including 14 British tourists. The group received medical treatment after the incident, but no fatalities were reported.
In 1991, the Egyptian ferry Salem Express , sailing from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, sank, killing as many as 471 people, mostly Muslim pilgrims.
Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, which harbour some of the country’s most renowned beach destinations, are popular with European holidaymakers. The area has cemented its reputation as a dive destination with easy access to coral reefs from shores and diving sites offering diverse marine life.
Last week, a 24-year-old Russian man was killed after being attacked by a tiger shark off the coast of Hurghada.
In recent years, Egypt has gone to great lengths to bolster its tourism industry, hurt by years of political instability, Covid-19 and the negative economic effect of the war in Ukraine. Tourism accounts for an estimated 12% of Egyptian GDP.
