Home Egypt submarine live updates: Six feared dead as embassy says all passengers on Sindbad are Russian

Egypt submarine live updates: Six feared dead as embassy says all passengers on Sindbad are Russian

· March 27, 2025 · 0 Comment
  2. A Russian official in Hurghada, Viktor Voropaev, says at least five Russians were killed in the submarine accident, including two children.
  3. Voropaev – Russia’s consul general in the Red Sea resort – was speaking to Tass, the state-owned Russian news agency.
  4. BBC reporters in Egypt say six people are feared dead. Earlier, the Russian embassy in Egypt said four people had been killed, and that all passengers on board were Russian.
  7. Emma Pengelly
  8. Reporter
  9. We’re now seeing more pictures from Hurghada, where ambulances have gathered after a tourist submarine sank off the popular resort’s coast.
  10. In the second image, you can see a second Sindbad vessel docked in the harbour. This isn’t the same vessel involved in this morning’s incident.
  11. A tourist staying at the Sindbad Club in Hurghada, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells the BBC: “We heard the ambulance sirens which lasted a long time and there are still at least three ambulances at the harbour.”
  12. Image source, Supplied
  13. Image source, Supplied
  16. Darren Bett
  17. BBC weather presenter
  18. Weather observations are very sparse in the Red Sea. There is a weather site at Hurghada that was reporting very light winds – around 5mph and no low cloud early this morning.
  19. It can be windy in the Red Sea when a northerly wind blows and the seas become rough. But it looks like the weather was quite calm this morning with wave heights nearby around 0.2m, so no sign of any rough waters.
  22. As we’ve been reporting, a number of people have been taken to hospital following the incident.
  23. In new pictures, we can see police waiting outside the Egyptian Hospital in Hurghada. Sources earlier told the BBC that nine people were injured, four critically.
  24. Image source, Reuters
  27. Joe Inwood
  28. BBC correspondent
  29. I’ve been hearing from Dr Simon Boxall, from the National Oceanography Centre at Southampton University.
  30. He’s been telling me a bit more about these types of vessels. According to the tour company Sindbad, the submarines were built in Finland – Boxall says he isn’t sure if this is true but if it is, they will have been built to very high standards.
  31. There is an “intense nature” in operating these vessels, he adds.
  32. If a submarine runs into a problem, it will either surface quickly, or get the passengers out as soon as possible before it drops down too far, Boxall explains.
  33. It is still early days, and we are yet to hear of any potential cause of this incident.
  34. But Boxall says Egypt is facing a “crisis on at the moment, in terms of safety on some of these tourist vessels”.
  35. Just last month, the Triton tourist boat sank north of Hurghada, and in November 2024 Sea Story sank.
  36. Whatever the cause of today’s incident, Boxall says it’s a “terrible tragedy”.
  39. Image source, Sindbad Submarines
  40. As we’ve been reporting, a tourist submarine has sunk in Egypt. Here are the details:
  41. Who: At least six people are feared dead, with nine injured and 29 rescued, sources tell the BBC. All passengers on board are Russian, according to Moscow’s embassy in Egypt.
  42. What: The vessel is believed to be operated by Sindbad Submarines, and the submarine has been operating tourist trips for several years.
  43. When: The incident happened this morning at around 10:00 local time, according to the Russian embassy.
  44. Where: Sindbad, the submarine, sank close to the harbour in Hurghada, a popular tourist resort in the Red Sea known for its beaches and coral reefs.
  45. How: We don’t know yet what caused the submarine to sink, but our teams in London and Egypt are trying to find out what happened.
  48. Sally Nabil
  49. Reporting from Cairo
  50. It’s the second incident in the Red Sea in around six months.
  51. Last November, a boat named Sea Story carrying more than 40 people also sank near the Egyptian resort of Marsa Allam, with 11 people unaccounted, or presumed dead.
  52. Today, six people are feared to have died, with others injured, after a submarine sank in Hurghada, another famous tourist resort.
  53. Reasons behind this latest tragedy are not clear yet. But the frequency of such incidents raise big questions about safety measures employed by local authorities, in such popular tourist sea excursion areas, and whether or not proper safety checks are being carried out.
  54. Back in November, Egyptian officials were talking about rough weather conditions causing the Sea Story to sink.
  55. But the BBC spoke to survivors, who cast doubt on the claim.
  56. It’s a pretty warm, sunny day in Egypt now. We don’t know yet what the authorities will say caused the incident in Hurghada.
  59. The local governorate’s office in Hurghada tells the Reuters news agency that six foreigners, whose nationalities are unknown, were killed in the Red Sea submarine incident.
  60. That tallies with the BBC’s reporters in Egypt, who also say six people are feared dead.
  61. The Russian embassy in Egypt says at least four people were killed, and that all tourists on board were Russian.
  64. If you’re in the area around Egypt’s Hurghada, we’d like to hear from you as this incident develops.
  65. You can contact us in the following ways:
  3. We’re still waiting to get more details on the incident, but the Russian Embassy in Egypt says that all of the tourists on board were Russian.
  4. In a post on Facebook, it says 45 passengers were on the vessel, including children.
  5. The post adds that four people have died, and they are waiting for information on several more passengers.
  6. The incident happened at around 10:00 local time, around 0.6m (1km) from the shore, it says.
  7. As a reminder, sources have told the BBC that six people are feared dead. We’ve contacted officials in Egypt, as well as Russia, to find out more and we’ll bring you the latest as we get it.
  10. The tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada early on Thursday, the BBC understands.
  11. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its beaches and coral reefs.
  15. Wael Hussein
  16. Reporting from Cairo
  17. Sindbad has been running tourist trips in the Hurghada area for several years.
  18. The company says it holds two of the only “14 real recreational submarines” in the world.
  19. The company allows tourists to travel 25 metres (82 feet) deep in the sea to explore “500 metres of coral reef and its marine inhabitant”.
  20. The website for Sindbad Submarines continues: “It offers 44 passenger seats – two pilots’ seats and a sizable round viewing window for each passenger.”
  23. This is not the first incident involving tourist boats in Hurghada.
  24. In November, a tourist boat called the Sea Story sank, leaving 11 dead or missing – including a British couple – and 35 survivors.
  25. At the time, Egyptian authorities attributed the disaster to a huge wave of up to 4m (13ft) – but the BBC spoke to survivors who said there were safety issues.
  26. UK investigators said last month there had been 16 incidents involving “liveaboard” vessels in the area in the last five years, with a number resulting in deaths.
  27. Image source, Getty Images
  28. Image caption,
  29. The Sea Story yacht, which sank in the Red Sea in November
  32. Our team in Cairo say the submarine is called Sindbad, and sank close to the harbour.
  33. The boat has been in operation for years. We’ll bring you more details on this developing story as we get it.
  34. Image source, Sindbad Submarines
  35. Image caption,
  36. A picture on the Sindbad Submarines website – the BBC cannot confirm if this is the exact type of boat involved in the incident
  39. Sally Nabil
  40. Reporting from Cairo
  41. At least six people are feared dead, with nine others injured, after a tourist submarine sank off the coast of the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada early on Thursday, local sources tell the BBC.
  42. Twenty-nine others were rescued. The injured, including four in critical condition, were transferred to nearby hospitals.
  43. It is believed that around 40 tourist passengers were on board the submarine.

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