Red Sea boat tragedy: Five people rescued after boat capsizes in Egypt

The bodies of four people have been found inside a tourist boat that capsized in seven minutes after it was struck by a large wave in the Red Sea.

Five people have been rescued after an Egyptian tourist yacht capsized in the Red Sea on Monday.

A military-led rescue team found two Belgians, one Swiss national, one Finnish tourist and one Egyptian alive on Tuesday after more 30 hours at sea.

It brings the total number of survivors from the accident to 33, according to the governor of the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, four bodies have been recovered from the boat, with rescue teams still searching for seven missing people.

The boat named “Sea Story” had been carrying 31 tourists and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt early on Monday, causing it to capsize.

The boat named ‘Sea Story’ had been carrying 31 tourists and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave. Picture: Facebook/Red Sea Governorate

A government source close to rescue operations said the five survivors were found on Tuesday morning inside the boat, which the governor said had been thrown on its side by an early morning wave but had not completely sunk.

“They (survivors) were found inside one of the rooms which had not filled with water,” the government source told AFP, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.

The group had spent at least 24 hours in the overturned vessel after authorities first received distress calls at 5.30 AM (0330 GMT) on Monday.

Rescuers on Tuesday recovered five survivors and four bodies. Picture: AP Photo

“Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers,” the Red Sea governor told AFP Tuesday, declining to provide any further details about the operation.

The four bodies recovered on Tuesday were also located inside the stricken vessel.

The boat had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200km north.

The governor said it capsized “suddenly and quickly within five to seven minutes” of the impact with the wave, leaving some passengers among them European, Chinese and American tourists nable to set out of their cabins in time.

Still missing

First-responders tending to a man on a stretcher in the Red Sea harbour town of Marsa Alam on November 25, 2024. Picture: Egyptian sis / AFP

Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi speaking to survivors. Picture: Egyptian sis / AFP

Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat pulled 28 people from the water on Monday.

According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged.

According to the governor’s office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Survivors rest at a coffee shop in Marsa Alam, Egypt on Monday. Picture: AP

Authorities in Egypt have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault.

There were at least two similar boat accidents in the Marsa Alam area earlier this year, but no fatalities.

The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis.

Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 per cent of its GDP.

Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt’s eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.

Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea’s Daedalus reef.

In June, two dozen French tourists were evacuated safely before their boat sank in a similar accident.

Last year, three British tourists died when a fire broke out on their yacht