AT least six students have reportedly drowned and 24 others have been injured on a school trip to a beach in Egypt.
Paramedics were dispatched to the beach in Alexandria following reports of students having difficulties in the water, according to the nation’s health ministry.
A large-scale rescue effort was launched with 16 ambulances deployed.
But six students could not be saved and were pronounced dead at the scene at Abu Talat Beach.
Rescuers treated three injured students on the beach – and another 21 were taken to nearby hospitals.
Officials in Alexandria have now ordered the closure of the beach.
Red warning flags have been deployed throughout the area to alert the public against entering the sea due to hazardous wave conditions and strong currents.
Egypt’s Ministry of Health said it “urges the public to adhere to safety guidelines on beaches”.
Khaled Abdel Ghaffa, Minister of Health and Population, said that all emergency treatment is being made available to the students.
An investigation is now underway, and officials are examining whether proper safety measures were in place.
This incident follows an earlier event where six individuals lost their lives while 39 were astonishingly rescued when the Sindbad pleasure submarine went under near the Egyptian resort city of Hurghada.
The sub was carrying 45 tourists as it made a 40-minute journey to view a reef.
Most of the tourists were Russians, but there were also some from India, Norway and Sweden, officials said. There were also five Egyptians on board.
The passengers were clients of the Biblio Globus company, guests at Hurghada’s Sindbad Hotel, which owns the submarine and runs the undersea adventure experiences.
Thirty-nine were rescued from the shark-infested waters, but nine suffered injuries, including four who remain in a critical fight for their lives.
