Hurghada submarine 'began sinking while being boarded', say Russian authorities

Six people died and nine were injured in incident involving tourist vessel at Egyptian Red Sea beach resort

A model of a Sindbad Submarines vessel. Reuters

A submarine carrying tourists in Egypt's Red Sea allegedly began sinking while passengers were boarding, leading to the deaths of six Russians and injuries to nine other people, according to survivors and Russia's consul general in the resort city of Hurghada.

The incident on Thursday morning off Hurghada involved the Sindbad 2 sightseeing submarine, operated by Sindbad Submarines in the city.

Egyptian authorities and Russian officials said that 45 passengers were on board, most of whom were rescued. Witnesses reported seeing injured tourists, many of them children, being brought to the beach unconscious.

On Friday, the injured received a visit from the governor of Red Sea province, Amr Hanafi. He promised an investigation but did not say what Egyptian authorities believed was the cause.

Officials in Hurghada told The National on Thursday that preliminary investigations determined the cause of the incident was a collision with a coral reef that depressurised the vessel cabin and allowed water in.

Survivors of the Sindbad 2 submarine are visited in hospital in Hurghada by Amr Hanafi, governor of the Red Sea governorate. AP

However, Russian survivors have given testimonies that appear to allege that human error or a technical malfunction caused the submarine to descend while its doors and hatches were still open.

Statements to Russia’s Tass news agency by the consul general said the submarine began to sink while passengers were boarding.

One survivor claimed the submarine started to submerge before all doors and hatches were sealed, moments before she and her children could board.

“My children and I were the last ones set to board – we had not yet boarded the submarine. We descended from the pontoon on to the submarine, stood on it, and suddenly the submarine began to submerge, despite the fact that the hatches were open,” she said.

“The Egyptian who was responsible for boarding started shouting, 'Stop, stop', and began pushing us on to the pontoon. I pushed my children on to the pontoon. I realised that I would no longer be able to climb on to it, and I swam away from the submarine so as not to be sucked in by the whirlpool,” she said.

The survivor said rescuers arrived promptly and took tourists to the beach to receive first aid.

In November, a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea after warnings of heavy seas. At least four people drowned, while 33 were rescued.