CAIRO: Three British tourists were missing on Sunday morning after fire broke out in a boat carrying 27 people on a cruising trip off the coast near Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Marsa Alam, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement, reported Xinhua.
Twelve out of 15 British tourists, along with 10 Egyptian crew members and two Egyptian tour guides, were rescued by another boat, “while the search for the missing three is still underway,“ said the statement.
Initial investigation showed that the fire was likely caused by a short circuit in the boat’s engine room, according to the statement.
Mohamed Bendary, the Red Sea Governorate’s secretary-general, said that the accident took place off the coast of the Elphinstone area, some 25 kilometres north of Marsa Alam.
The Egyptian prosecution is currently further probing into the accident, said the statement. -Bernama
