Marsa Alam, Nov 26 (IANS) Four bodies have been recovered, and three more survivors rescued on Tuesday, one day after a safari boat capsized off Egypt’s southeastern coast in the Red Sea, Governor of Egypt’s Red Sea Province Amr Hanafy said Tuesday.
With the three survivors — two Belgians and an Egyptian — being rescued lately, the total number of those rescued reached 31, Hanafy said in a statement, adding that the four recovered bodies have not yet been identified.
Rescue teams are still searching for nine missing people, he said.
The Red Sea Province announced on its official Facebook page on Monday that a safari boat had sunk off near Marsa Alam, a coastal town in southeastern Egypt on the Red Sea.
According to Hanafy, the boat carried 44 passengers, including 13 Egyptians and 31 others from 11 countries: Germany, Britain, the United States, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain, and Ireland.
A total of 28 people had been rescued and are “in good health,” while search operations and investigations into the incident are still ongoing, Hanafy said in a statement on Monday.
The Chinese Embassy in Egypt said in a statement on Monday that two Chinese tourists had been rescued by passing vessels near the site of the incident. The embassy has contacted the two tourists, who are reported to be in good health.
The embassy later confirmed with the two tourists that they were the only Chinese nationals onboard the boat, Xinhua news agency reported.
Egyptian authorities reported that the boat, named Sea Story, departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to arrive at Hurghada Marina on Friday.
The Red Sea Province’s control center received a distress signal from a crew member at around 5:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) on Monday.
Local authorities said the boat sunk within 5-7 minutes of its impact with the wave, leaving some passengers unable to escape cabins in time.
–IANS
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