Three bodies found by Egypt boat rescuers after tourist ship capsized in Red Sea

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Three bodies have been recovered from a tourist boat that capsized off the coast of Egypt, with 13 people still missing. The tragic update was issued by Governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafi.

Tourists onboard the vessel were from the UK, US, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, China, Finland, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland. The identities of those who have been found currently remain unclear.

The boat, named the Sea Story, was out on a diving excursion and was carrying 44 people at the time of the tragedy. As reported in the Mirror, 28 people were saved by rescue crews.

A spokesperson for travel trade organisation Abta earlier said: “We have been in contact with our members to see if they had any customers on the ship affected by this incident.”

A distress call was made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day diving trip, shortly before dawn on Monday. Mr Hanafi said that according to those on board, a “high sea wave” hit the vessel and caused it to capsize in “about five or seven minutes”.

Some passengers were inside the cabins, “which is why they couldn’t get out of the boat”, his statement on Facebook said.

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