Survivors, Bodies Recovered from Capsized Red Sea Tourist Boat

25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)
25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)
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Survivors, Bodies Recovered from Capsized Red Sea Tourist Boat

25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)
25 November 2024, Egypt: Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi (R) checks on tourists rescued from capsized tourist boat called "Sea Story" that sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast. (Red Sea Governorate/dpa)

Rescuers on Tuesday recovered five survivors and four bodies from a dive boat that capsized off Egypt's eastern coast a day earlier, Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said.  

A military-led team rescued two Belgians, one Swiss national, one Finnish tourist and one Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors from the accident to 33.  

The "Sea Story" had been carrying 31 tourists of multiple nationalities and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt early on Monday, causing it to capsize.

The four bodies recovered on Tuesday have not yet been identified, and eight people are still missing after 28 were rescued on Monday.

A government source close to rescue operations said the five survivors were found on Tuesday morning inside the boat, which the governor said had been thrown on its side by an early morning wave but had not completely sunk.  

The group had spent at least 24 hours in the overturned vessel after authorities first received distress calls at 5:30 AM (0330 GMT) on Monday.  

"Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers," the Red Sea governor told AFP Tuesday, declining to provide any further details about the operation.  

The four bodies recovered on Tuesday were also located inside the stricken vessel.  

The boat had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200 kilometers (124 miles) north.  

The governor on Monday said it capsized "suddenly and quickly within 5-7 minutes" of the impact with the wave, leaving some passengers -- among them European, Chinese and American tourists -- unable to set out of their cabins in time.  

- Still missing -  

Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat pulled 28 people from the water on Monday.  

According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged on Monday.   

According to the governor's office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.  

Among the missing are two Polish tourists and one from Finland, according to both countries' foreign ministries.  

Authorities in Egypt have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault.  

There were at least two similar boat accidents in the Marsa Alam area earlier this year, but no fatalities.  

The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis.  

Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of its GDP.  

Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt's eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.

 



Türkiye Begins Black Box Analysis of Jet Crash That Killed Libyan Military Chief and 7 Others

Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Begins Black Box Analysis of Jet Crash That Killed Libyan Military Chief and 7 Others

Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

The technical analysis of the recovered black boxes from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, began as the investigation proceeded in cooperation with Libyan authorities, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officials and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Türkiye’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

The wreckage was scattered across an area covering 3 square kilometers (more than a square mile), complicating recovery efforts, according to the Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

A 22-person delegation, including five family members, arrived from Libya early on Wednesday to assist in the investigation.


Lebanese President: We are Determined to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
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Lebanese President: We are Determined to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated on Thursday that the country’s parliamentary elections are a constitutional obligation that must be carried out on time.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency quoted Aoun as saying that he, alongside Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, is determined to hold the elections on schedule.

Aoun also emphasized that diplomatic efforts have continued unabated to keep the specter of war at bay, noting that "things are heading in a positive direction".

The agency also cited Berri reaffirming that the elections will take place as planned, with "no delays, no extensions".

The Lebanese parliamentary elections are scheduled for May next year.


Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements ‘Morally Wrong’

Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements ‘Morally Wrong’

Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)

Israel reacted furiously on Thursday to a condemnation by 14 countries including France and Britain of its approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the criticism discriminatory against Jews.

"Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

"The cabinet decision to establish 11 new settlements and to formalize eight additional settlements is intended, among other things, to help address the security threats Israel is facing."

On Sunday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, then issued a statement urging Israel to reverse its decision, "as well as the expansion of settlements".

Such unilateral actions, they said, "violate international law", and risk undermining a fragile ceasefire in Gaza in force since October 10.

They also reaffirmed their "unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution... where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security".

Israel has occupied the West Bank following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law, had reached its highest level since at least 2017.