Boat carrying 25 tourists capsizes in Oman, killing three

A boat carrying 25 French tourists has capsized off the coast of Oman, killing three, local police have said.

The three tourists drowned when the boat tipped over two-and-a-half nautical miles from Oman's capital city of Muscat.

Royal Oman Police said a tour guide and a boat captain were also on the ship. Two tourists suffered minor injuries.

"Investigations are still ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident," police said.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the upturned hull of a boat could be seen floating in the water.

According to the Oman Daily Observer, the boat was en route to the Ad Dimaniyat Islands, a popular spot with tourists said to offer some of the best snorkelling in the region, separated from the mainland by roughly 10 miles of ocean.

Citing one of the operators, the paper reported that the incident took place around 9am after conditions suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Oman's Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority confirmed on X that it was called to the incident and shared photos from the quayside in the aftermath.

It also shared an interview its spokesman had given to Oman's Hala FM radio station about what happened, shedding new light on the tragedy.

"Upon our arrival, a number of tourists had already been rescued by tourist boats and Coast Guard Police, and all of them were in good health," the spokesman said.

"The majority of the injured were elderly, and some of them were suffering from panic and cold due to exposure to the water.

"We measured the vital signs of the injured and provided oxygen to some of them until their health stabilised."

The bodies of the dead, meanwhile, were "transferred to the relevant authorities to complete the legal procedures".

The spokesman also observed that "some passengers were not wearing life jackets during the trip".

France's ‌foreign ministry ‍did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oman, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, attracts tourists with its diving and natural beauty, with some four million visitors every year.

(c) Sky News 2026: Boat carrying 25 tourists capsizes in Oman, killing three