Egyptian authorities say rescuers have found survivors after a tourist boat with 45 people on board sank in the Red Sea.

A distress signal was received at 05:30 local time (03:30 GMT) from the 44m-long (144ft) Sea Story, which left port near Marsa Alam on Saturday for a diving trip with 31 tourists and 14 crew, according to the governor of Egypt’s Red Sea province.

Maj-Gen Amr Hanafi said some of the survivors found in the Wadi el-Gemal area, which is south of Marsa Alam, have been transported by aircraft to receive medical care and that others were waiting to be picked up by an Egyptian warship.

Air and naval units were continuing to search for the missing, he added.