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Three British tourists were declared dead on Monday, a day after they were reported missing following a fire on a dive boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
“It is with great regret that we, as tour operator, with heavy hearts, must accept that three of our much-valued dive guests perished in the tragic incident,” British holiday company Scuba Travel said in a statement on Monday.
“Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to their families and friends at this very sad time,” the statement added.
The three Brits were among 15 passengers onboard the dive boat, named Hurricane, when it caught fire early Sunday off the Elphinstone Reef near the southeastern Egyptian town of Marsa Alam.
“At the time the fire broke out, 12 divers were participating in a briefing onboard, while those missing had apparently decided not to dive that morning,” the company, which organized the diving cruise, said in its statement.
The 12 passengers as well as 14 crew members were rescued from the boat and moved to Marsa Shagra, a village north of the town of Marsa Alam. There, they received medical attention and gave police statements as local authorities opened an investigation into the blaze. According to the tour company, the survivors were left with minor injuries.
Egyptian authorities in the Red Sea governorate said a preliminary investigation suggested the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the boat’s engine room.
Images shared online showed thick black smoke engulfing the boat as flames raged on both decks.
The boat had set off last Tuesday from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on a six-day diving cruise and was scheduled to return on Sunday. According to its website, Scuba Travel has been operational for 20 years and boasts an “experienced team” committed to organizing holidays around the globe.
The Red Sea is a popular holiday destination for global tourists, particularly Europeans. The area is known for its scuba diving and snorkeling spots as it houses one of the richest marine life and coral reefs in the world. More than 1,200 species of fish, including 44 species of sharks, are found in the Red Sea.
In the past years, Egypt sought to revive tourism in the area after the sector was dealt a heavy blow during the COVID-19 pandemic and was further worsened as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. Russian and Ukrainian visitors accounted for about a third of tourists flocking to Egypt in previous years, according to local data.
Egypt heavily relies on its tourism sector as one of the main sources of foreign currency. In 2021, tourism revenues in Egypt generated $13 billion, according to data from the central bank, accounting for about 12% of the country’s GDP.
Sunday’s fire comes days after a Russian tourist was mauled to death by a tiger shark in the Red Sea. In 2021, a series of shark attacks were reported in the area. Several deadly attacks also occurred in the past years.
Fatal boat accidents, meanwhile, are rare. In 2021, at least nine people were killed when a cruise boat carrying nearly 20 people capsized on a lake near the city of Alexandria in the north.
Last week, 36 people were rescued from a sinking speed boat, also in Marsa Alam. Local reports said the boat sank after hitting coral reefs in the area. In April, another tourist boat capsized in the northern Red Sea. All 35 people on board were rescued.
