Three missing Britons who were on a diving boat that burst into flames in the Red Sea off Egypt have died.

A spokesman for Scuba Travel confirmed the deaths, saying that its guests “perished” when a medium-sized scuba diving boat christened Hurricane went up in flames off the resort town of Marsa Alam on Sunday.

A spokesman for Scuba Travel said, in a statement to Sky News: “It is with great regret that we, as tour operator, with heavy hearts, must accept that three of our much-valued dive guests, perished in the tragic incident.

“Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to their families and friends at this very sad time.”

The three passengers were among 15 qualified diving enthusiasts who were on a week’s stay on board the “Hurricane” dive boat when the fire broke out at around 8:30am local time (6:30am UK time).

The statement added: “At the time the fire broke out, 12 divers were participating in a briefing on board, while those missing had apparently decided not to dive that morning.”

A nearby craft was used to evacuate 12 divers and the 14 crew members also had to abandon ship after trying to reach the missing guests, according to Scuba Travel.

Egyptian authorities had earlier said that following an initial examination of the vessel it was found that “an electrical short circuit in the boat’s engine room sparked the blaze”.

A search party was launched to find the remaining three British tourists, whose identities were not been revealed.

Egypt’s Red Sea resorts harbour some of the country’s most renowned beach destinations and are popular with European holidaymakers.

It has cemented its reputation as a dive destination with easy access to coral reefs from shores and dive sites offering diverse marine life.