A tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian coast, killing several passengers
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- A tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian coast, according to reports and officials.
- The Russian embassy in Egypt said the vessel was visiting a reef and four Russians were killed.
- Egypt's Red Sea resorts are a major tourism destination.
Several people were killed when a tourism submarine sank off the coast of Egypt, according to officials.
The Russian embassy in Egypt said in a Facebook post that all 45 passengers on board were Russian, and four of its citizens had been killed.
It said the submarine, Sindbad, operated by a local hotel, was on an expedition to a coral reef less than a mile off the coast when the incident occurred.
The local governor's office told Reuters that the vessel sank near the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, with six foreigners killed.
Russia's consul general in Hurghada, Viktor Voropayev, told Russian state-owned news outlet TASS that the death toll had risen to five, "including two minors."
The Russian embassy said that most of those on board had been rescued and taken to hospital or their hotels.
According to the hotel's website, the submarine travels around 25 meters underwater, can carry 45 passengers, and offers a "sizeable round viewing window for each passenger."
It's unclear what caused the incident.
Hurghada is a popular Red Sea resort, known for its water sports, reefs, and beaches.
Another tourism vessel capsized off the coast near Hurghada last November, killing 11.
The Egyptian tourism ministry and local authorities in Hurghada didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.