Three British holidaymakers still unaccounted for after fire caught boat in Red Sea

Three British tourists went missing Sunday after a fire broke out in their yacht during a trip near the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Marsa Alam.
A yacht dubbed “Hurricane”, Ahram Online reports, caught fire on Sunday during a trip scheduled for 6-11 June in the Fuston area, about 25 km north of Marsa Alam in the Red Sea.
There were a total of 27 individuals, including 10 Egyptian crew members, two Egyptian tour guides and 15 British tourists on the vessel.
Rescue operations were able to save the 12 Egyptians and 12 of the British tourists, the media notes.
Mohamed Bendary, the Red Sea governorate’s secretary-general reportedly indicated that preliminary investigations have revealed that the fire originated in the boat’s engine room, likely due to an electrical fault.
The incident occurred just three days after a man was killed in a shark attack in Hurghada, another popular Red Sea tourist city around 250 km north of Marsa Alam.
Authorities have temporarily closed the beaches near the attack scene. Egypt’s economy, currently in distress, depends greatly on the tourism industry. The North African country, according to State data, received a record-breaking 1.35 million tourists in April.