At least six people have died and dozens of others have been rescued after a tourist submarine sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt.

Nine of those rescued were injured after the vessel sank near Hurghada, two municipal officials said.

Sky’s US partner NBC News, citing the Russian embassy in Cairo, reported four Russian citizens were among those who had died.

The submarine, called Sindbad, was carrying 45 passengers, including children, NBC reported.

It is not immediately clear what caused the submarine to sink.

The Russian embassy told NBC: “On March 27, at about 10:00, the Sindbad bathyscaphe, owned by the hotel of the same name, crashed 1km off the shore. […] In addition to the crew, there were 45 tourists on board, including minors.”

It added: “Most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada.

“Their health condition is not a concern. Four people died. The fate of several tourists is being clarified.”

Emergency crews were able to rescue 29 people during the disaster, according to a statement released by the Red Sea governorate.

The group had paid for a sea trip to the coral reefs in Hurghada, according to local media reports.

Security and emergency services responded to the incident, including 21 ambulances, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

The submarine had been operating tourist trips in the area for several years, the news outlet added.

Hurghada is a beach resort town stretching around 25 miles along Egypt’s Red Sea coast.

The submarine embarked off one of the beaches in the tourist promenade area, Egyptian officials who did not want to be named, told the Associated Press news agency. Tourists of different nationalities were on board.

Some tourist companies have stopped or limited travelling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.

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Emmanuel Macron has said Russia is reinterpreting what was agreed in the Black Sea ceasefire talks – as he met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Ukraine and Russia agreed to a tentative ceasefire brokered by the US involving the Black Sea and strikes on energy infrastructure on Tuesday.

But drone strikes were reported just hours after the US reached the deals separately with each country, with the mayor of the Ukrainian port city Mykolaiv saying there were emergency power outages after reports seven drones were downed over the region.

“I note today Russia is always tempted to reinterpret what we discuss and agree,” the French president said on Wednesday.

“While saying it wants peace, Russia continues to strike intensely the Ukrainian territory, including civilian targets. These strikes – we condemn them.”

Secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the US will evaluate demands made by Russia after Moscow agreed “in principle” to the ceasefire.

Russia also accused Ukraine of targeting energy infrastructure in Crimea, Kursk and Bryansk but this has not been independently verified. Ukraine denied the claims.

Meanwhile, Russia launched its largest drone attack yet on Mr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, according to the city’s military administration chief.

Macron announces further military support

As Mr Macron announced an additional $2bn of military support for Ukraine, he added that Russia cannot dictate the conditions for a lasting peace in Ukraine.

When questioned on whether sanctions on Russia should be lifted, Mr Macron said it is “much too early”.

The French president also said that a proposed European armed force for possible deployment in Ukraine in tandem with an eventual peace deal could “respond” to a Russian attack if Moscow launched one.

At a news conference after the meeting of the two leaders, Mr Zelenskyy said that he expects the US will be able to ensure Vladimir Putin accepts a ceasefire.

“We believe America will be strong enough to lead Putin to accept an unconditional ceasefire,” he said.

Read more:
What is in the Black Sea ceasefire?
Moments that shaped Trump-Zelenskyy relationship
Ukraine war Q&A

President Zelenskyy’s trip to Paris comes ahead of a summit of European leaders on Ukraine and security on Thursday.

The so-called “coalition of the willing” nations that are allies of Ukraine will discuss options for a peacekeeping solution for the country after the war ends, with France and Britain leading efforts.

Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said on Wednesday that US-Ukraine ties were “back on track”.

In an interview with Reuters news agency, Andriy Yermak said two rounds of talks in Saudi Arabia gave Kyiv the chance to show US officials it is open to working with Donald Trump to end the war.

“I think we have great conversations with the Americans. I think we are back on track,” he said.

Relations appeared to hit a new low last month following a disastrous meeting between Mr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump at the White House.

Donald Trump has been urged to fire US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth following the leak of highly sensitive war plans – as national security adviser Mike Waltz said he took “full responsibility” for organising the group chat.

The conversation on the messaging app Signal between US officials, including vice president JD Vance and Mr Hegseth, was leaked to American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to the chat in error.

They discussed plans to conduct airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, which took place on 15 March.

Latest: White House deflecting from scandal

Mr Waltz – who had mistakenly added Mr Goldberg to the Signal discussion – said: “I take full responsibility…I built the group.”

Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of the US House of Representatives, described Mr Hegseth as “the most unqualified Secretary of Defence in American history” and called for him to be sacked.

“His continued presence in the top position of leadership at the Pentagon threatens the nation’s security and puts our brave men and women in uniform throughout the world in danger,” he wrote.

“His behaviour shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.

“Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth should be fired immediately.”

Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump downplayed the incident and said he believed the chat contained “no classified information”.

“They were using an app, as I understand it, that a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use,” he told reporters.

Trump expressed support for Mr Waltz, telling NBC News his national security adviser “has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man”.

The US president said officials would “probably” not use Signal any longer but did not agree to a full investigation of what Democrats have called a major security breach which required high-level resignations.

Included in the conversation on Signal were Mr Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mr Hegseth.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe – who were both also in the chat – testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that no classified material was shared.

But Democratic senators have voiced scepticism, noting that the journalist, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, reported Mr Hegseth posted operational details “including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing”.

Republican majority leader, John Thune, said on Tuesday he expected the Senate Armed Services Committee to look into Trump administration officials’ use of Signal.

Read more from Sky News:
UK still confident over US intelligence sharing
What was said in Trump officials’ group chat
What is Signal? And is it really secure?

Meanwhile, the White House has mostly attacked the journalist responsible for the original story instead of admitting culpability. The integrity of Mr Goldberg has been repeatedly called into question.

Posting on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Mr Goldberg of sensationalising the story, and White House communications director Steven Cheung called the media coverage of the security breach a “witch hunt”.

Group chat gaffe wouldn’t happen in UK

Deborah Haynes

Security and Defence Editor

@haynesdeborah

If a British defence minister was found to have shared details about a live military operation in an unofficial messaging group with colleagues, they would be sacked.

That President Donald Trump has tried to dismiss the revelation that his top defence and security team not only did just that but accidentally included a journalist in the chat will be watched with deepening horror by US allies and growing glee by American enemies.

In public, the UK government is still insisting security ties with the US are as strong as ever.

But in private there will doubtless be horror – though perhaps not surprise – within Whitehall at this extraordinary lapse in the most basic operational security by the president’s national security adviser, defence secretary, national intelligence chief and even the boss of the CIA.

Any information about plans to – for example – launch bombing raids against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen would ordinarily only be shared on specially designated government systems that ensure classified information is secure.

The fact that Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, felt it was acceptable to set up a group on the commercial messaging app Signal – which does provide encryption but is only as secure as the device that it is being used on (so not secure at all if a mobile phone or laptop is compromised) – to discuss plans to attack the Houthis is bad enough.

Read more from Deborah here

The Atlantic has hit back, dismissing those claims. “Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” it said in a statement.

Mr Hegseth told reporters on Monday no one had texted war plans – prompting Mr Goldberg to call those comments a lie during an interview on CNN.

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It remains unclear why the officials chose to chat via Signal instead of secure government channels typically used for sensitive discussions.

The Pentagon reportedly warned of a known vulnerability on the Signal chat app, in an email sent out prior to the publication of The Atlantic article, according to reports by Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.

The email reported: “Russia-aligned threat groups are actively targeting the Signal Messenger application of individuals likely to exchange sensitive military and government communications related to the war in Ukraine”.

Employees were told the vulnerability could be mitigated by updating to the latest version of the app and applying proper settings.