The Russian Embassy in Cairo issued a statement saying: ‘Four people have been killed. The fate of several tourists is being determined.’
Six Russians on vacation in Egypt have been killed when a tourist mini-submarine sank less than a mile off the Red Sea resort of Hurghada on March 27.
The Red Sea governor, Maj. Gen. Amr Hanafi, said the vessel—the Sindbad—had been carrying 45 tourists and five Egyptian crew members when it got into trouble.
Hanafi said 29 of the 39 tourists rescued suffered various injuries and were taken to the hospital.
Some of those on board were Norwegian, Swedish, and Indian citizens, he said.
Russia’s Tass news agency said two children were among those who died.
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Cairo published a statement on Facebook, which said, “On March 27 around 10.00, at a distance of 1 km from the shore, an accident of the [mini-submarine] ‘Sindbad’, belonging to the hotel of the same name, occurred.”
The embassy stated: “According to initial data, most of the passengers on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada. Their health is not a cause for concern. Four people have been killed. The fate of several tourists is being determined.”
The embassy said the small vessel, which allows for underwater viewing, carried out a “regular underwater excursion” to a nearby coral reef.
“In addition to crew members, there were 45 tourists on board, including minors. All of them are Russian citizens, tourists of the Biblio Globus company,” the embassy stated.
It is not clear whether the vessel suffered an engine problem or a mechanical issue, making it unable to resurface.
Sindbad Submarines, the company that operated the tourist mini-submarine, said it was one of only 14 recreational submarines in the world.
According to the company’s website, the vessel had 44 passenger seats, each of which had a viewing window.
Passengers were able to view a coral reef and marine inhabitants about 75 feet below the surface of the ocean, according to the website.
Although the vessel usually ventured down to that depth, it was engineered in Finland to sustain depths of 225 feet, according to the website.
Egypt’s Red Sea resorts are popular among Russian tourists, but there have been several tragedies over the years.
In November 2024, a tourist yacht, the Sea Story, sank off the coast of Hurghada, killing seven people.
In October 2015, a Russian-owned Airbus A321-200 jet crashed in the Sinai Desert, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board. It had been flying back to St. Petersburg from the resort of Sharm el-Shaikh.
The terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane, but the Russian government dismissed its claim. The exact cause remains unknown.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.