Three lacking British passengers who had been on a diving boat that caught hearth in Egypt have died, a tour operator has confirmed.

A spokesman for Scuba Travel mentioned: "It is with nice remorse that we, as tour operator, with heavy hearts, should settle for that three of our much-valued dive friends, perished within the tragic incident.

"Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to their families and friends at this very sad time."

In an announcement, the corporate mentioned the three passengers had been amongst 15 certified diving fans who had been on every week's keep on board the "Hurricane" dive boat when the fireplace broke out at round 8:30am native time (6:30am UK time) on Sunday.

A search had been beneath approach for the three divers following the fireplace which broke out whereas the boat was off the Elphinstone Reef within the Red Sea.

"At the time the fire broke out, 12 divers were participating in a briefing on board, while those missing had apparently decided not to dive that morning."

According to Scuba Travel, the severity of the fireplace meant that 12 of the divers had been instantly evacuated to a different craft close by and the 14 crew members additionally needed to abandon ship after making an attempt to achieve the lacking friends.

All the 12 friends who had been taken off the dive ship went ashore to Marsa Shagra the place they had been supplied with any medical consideration required and gave statements to the native police.

A full investigation into the reason for the fireplace will likely be carried out by police and native authorities.

Authorities mentioned preliminary stories steered the fireplace was on account of {an electrical} fault.

The "Hurricane" is being towed to a but to be determined port as it's nonetheless smouldering and might want to settle down earlier than entry.

It is known that the Foreign and Commonwealth Dept has contacted the households of the divers who died.

Content Source: information.sky.com