Horrifying footage of the doomed Egyptian tourist submarine shows how the vessel began to sink as passengers were getting on board.
Holidaymakers are heard screaming in fear as the Sindbad sub, with its hatch still open, started to dive beneath the Red Sea as boarding was still underway.
Water quickly rises around the submarine as it begins its descent into the sea, with tourists who were on top of the Sindbad now standing in a pool of water.
Although the clip does not show what is happening inside the submarine, the hatch is clearly still open, implying that water filled the cabin.
Within seconds the terrified tourists are completely submerged and left to swim for the lives in the massive sea as the Sinbad sank on Thursday.
The disaster killed six of the 45 passengers on board. The other 39 passengers and five crew members were rescued. At least nine people were hurt in the disaster, with four – including a child – said to be in critical condition.
Egyptian police have launched an investigation into the disaster and have questioned the crew, according to the BBC. The crew leader reportedly obtained the correct ‘scientific certificates’ and the Sindbad had a valid license.
Initial investigation has revealed that the submarine hit a reef and subsequently lost pressure at 20 metres deep, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia said in a Telegram post.
Horrifying footage of the doomed Egyptian tourist submarine Sinbad shows how the vessel began to sink as passengers were getting on board
The Sindbad sub, with its hatch still open, started to dive beneath the Red Sea as boarding was still underway
Water quickly rises around the submarine as it begins its descent into the sea, with tourists who were on top of the Sindbad now standing in a pool of water
The horror unfolded as 45 tourists – from Russia, India, Norway and Sweden – prepared for an underwater pleasure trip to see coral reefs off the Egyptian coast.
The six people who died were all Russian nationals, Red Sea Province Governor Amr Hanafy has confirmed.
Full details about the victims’ identities have not yet been released, but the Russian consulate in Hurghada confirmed that two children were among the deceased.
Mother of two Dr Kristina Valliulina, 39, a paediatrician originally listed as dead by the Egyptian authorities, has reportedly survived the submarine tragedy with her two daughters.
‘We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,’ the consul said. ‘At present, seven Russian citizens, including five minors, remain in Hurghada hospitals. According to doctors, their condition is not alarming.’
Dramatic accounts of the submarine horror have emerged today, with survivors now recalling the exact moment they knew something was wrong.
‘We were queuing at the boarding, when the submarine began to sink into the water,’ Regina, who was onboard with her two children, ages nine and ten, said.
‘The Egyptian who was responsible for loading shouted ‘Stop, stop!’. But naturally no one inside heard him. He shouted to us ‘Faster, faster, go to the pontoon’ from which people were boarding.’
A rescue boat arrives to recover the sunken tourist submarine ‘Sindbad’ off the coast of Hurghada in Egypt on Thursday
The regional governor said that all the passengers who were on board have been accounted for. Six died in the tragedy
Regina says that she and her family were ‘saved by the fact that we were on the top of the submarine’ and ‘did not have time to go inside’.
She explained that they ‘pushed the children out’ as the vessel began to submerge underwater.
‘I understood that I would not be able to climb onto the pontoon itself. I tried to swim away from the submarine,’ She told Baza media outlet, adding that she feared the currents would pull her under.
‘I swam away, sat on the structures that were built around the pontoon so that they could moor here. From there I moved to the pontoon itself.’
She said the situation is a ‘very big tragedy’ and explained that she ‘can’t put into words how difficult this was’.
‘There was not a single life preserver, no lifebuoys, no vests, nothing at all on the pontoon itself,’ she said.
‘Rescue boats began to approach. There were no medics among them. The police and all the surrounding people tried to get people out.’
The submersible sank off the marina of the Sindbad Club Hotel this morning. People on board said hatches were left open, and that they had to scramble to save themselves
Rescue efforts continue to recover the sunken submarine off the coast of Hurghada
Regina, who reiterated the Sinbad ‘did not fully sink’ but instead it ‘simply descended into the water’ while people were boarding, has criticised the crew member responsible for the dangerous ‘mistake’.
‘The whole tragedy happened because of the mistake – in my opinion – of one person who began the descent without making sure that all the people were in the submarine itself and that all the hatches were battened down,’ she said.
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‘And there were no [organised] rescue operations from the Egyptian services.’
Boats were sailing by and ‘waving their hands at everyone’, she said, adding: ‘These boats delivered the victims to the shore directly to the rescuers, to the ambulances.
‘When we were on the boat that brought all the rescued [tourists] to the shore, there really were doctors there, offering help…. They took us there in a car to our hotel, fortunately it was located right next door, our hotel.’
Elena Boldareva, another survivor of the tragedy, said that passengers were urgently trying to escape the submarine as it began to do underwater.
‘Some managed to swim out, some didn’t,’ she told The Express, revealing how she and her husband managed to get out safely – but her mother and daughter did not.
Boldareva said the pair are among those hospitalised in critical condition.
She noted that people on nearby boats rushed to help and could be seen trying to pull victims of the submarine tragedy out of the water.
An ambulance and a police vehicle in front of The Egyptian Hospital in Hurghada, Egypt on Thursday, March 27, 2025
Unnamed survivors of the Sinbad submarine tragedy in a hospital room in Hurghada Thursday
Some of the passengers were told by a crew member that he ‘could not swim’.
‘According to the victims, the submarine began to dive right as people were boarding, and not everyone managed to get out on deck,’ reported SHOT media.
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Yet there was a misunderstanding by the crew after a grandparent at the last minute took two young children, aged seven and eight, ashore to the toilet.
‘Before boarding, the children wanted to go to the toilet – and because of this, they were delayed,’ said the outlet.
‘There were at least five more people on the deck, but the bathyscaphe had already begun to dive under the water.
‘In seconds, the people found themselves in the sea, and having climbed out onto the pontoons, they began to rescue the others.’
A Russian father ‘realised in time what was happening’ and threw his children on the pier. He and another man then ‘started helping the other people get out’.
‘As you can see in the video, the boat started going down when not all the people had gone in yet, and it ended up going under water in a split second,’ the reports said.
The tourist submarine, named Sindbad, had been carrying 45 passengers at the time of the sinking on Thursday, as it sailed off the coast of Hurghada (file image)
The Sinbad submarine has been operating for several years (file image of the sub’s interior)
According to the Russian embassy in Egypt, the Sindbad submarine belonged to the Hurghada resort hotel of the same. Pictured: Sindbad Club Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt
The witnesses say the submarine dived without ensuring the hatches were closed, but SHOT reported there may have been a technical fault.
The Sinbad was equipped with large portholes to let passengers see the Red Sea’s spectacular corals and marine life, and was able to descend to a depth of 25 metres, according to the company’s website.
According to the operator, Sharm Hurghada Excursions, the underwater tour is three-hours long and costs £68 per adult ticket, and £35 for children.
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The company boasts its excursions allow visitors to admire Hurghada’s underwater life and extensive coral reef, enjoy a diving experience while staying dry, and see life underwater at a depth of 72ft.
It also claims it holds two of the only ’14 real recreational submarines’ in the world.
The website for Sindbad Submarines continues: ‘It offers 44 passenger seats – two pilots’ seats and a sizable round viewing window for each passenger.’
The submarine, which is owned by an Egyptian, was licensed and so was the crew captain, Governor Hanafy said.
The Red Sea is a major hub for Egypt’s crucial tourism industry, a pillar of the economy, in which Russian tourists play an increasing part.
But there have been several recent incidents of tourist boats capsizing in the sea.
Hurghada is a popular tourist destination for Brits and Germans and several nautical jaunts operate from the coast
An aerial view on Hurghada town located on the Red Sea coast, Egypt (file image)
Passengers who had travelled on an Egyptian tourist boat which left three Brits missing when it caught fire claimed it had ‘reoccurring issues’ in June 2023
In June last year, a boat sank after suffering severe damage from high waves, though no casualties were reported.
And in November, a tourist boat capsized while carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip. Local media reported that at least 11 people had died in the incident, which was also blamed on high waves.
At the time, the governor of the Red Sea province said the boat, the Sea Story, had passed a safety inspection eight months earlier.
Last month, a tourist boat capsized while en route to Hurghada after undergoing maintenance.
A United Nations report ranked Egypt first in Africa for tourism revenues in 2024 at £10.89billion, more than twice its earnings in Suez Canal revenues, highlighting tourism’s vital role in sustaining the hard-pressed economy.
