The Red Sea, renowned for its coral reefs and marine life, is a major hub for Egypt's tourism industry, a pillar of the economy.

The Red Sea Governorate said the submarine had 50 people on board, 45 tourists and five crew, Reuters reported. The tourists were of nationalities including Russia, India, Norway and Sweden, Reuters said.

People walk next to an Egyptian police vehicle in front of the hospital where the bodies of foreigners who were killed when a tourist submarine sank off Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, and whose whose nationalities are still unknown,