26 Polish tourists rescued as boat sinks off Egypt’s Marsa Alam coast

CAIRO – 7 June 2023: 26 Polish tourists as well as two tourist guides and eight boat crew members were rescued on Wednesday as their boat sank off the coast of Marsa Alam resort town on the Red Sea shore in eastern Egypt.

The boat sank while the tourists were in a diving trip, according to a security statement. The crew of a nearby launch rescued the tourists and moved them to the launch.

A police report was filed to be submitted to the Public Prosecution, the statement added.

Such incidents are rare in Egypt, especially in the Red Sea area, which is a main tourist destination in the country that relies on tourism as a major source of foreign currency.

Egypt has been keen to promote tourism amid several shocks that affected the sector over the past years, especially the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Eissa said earlier this week that Egypt received over 1.3 million tourists in April, expecting the country to receive a total of 15 million visitors by the end of the year.