“Fifteen British passengers, ten crew members and two tour guides” were rescued, according to a statement from the Red Sea governorate.
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The search continues to find the three missing tourists, according to this press release.
It was after a six-day cruise, which was to end on Sunday, that the fire broke out on board the boat, the hurricanes, while he was 25 kilometers from the resort town of Marsa Alam on the Red Sea.
An electrical malfunction in the engine room caused the fire, authorities said.
The Red Sea is an important tourist destination in Egypt. On Thursday, a Russian was killed there by a shark off the Egyptian city of Hurghada.
The country of 105 million inhabitants, plunged into a serious economic crisis, is counting on tourism, which employs two million people and generates more than 10% of GDP, to restore its finances.
The Egyptian government is targeting 30 million tourists a year by 2028, up from 13 million before COVID-19.