CAIRO, July 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Four people died and 22 others were injured after a barge in the Gulf of Suez sank, the Egyptian government said Wednesday.

The barge Adam Marine 12 sank on Tuesday night, the health ministry said, without providing details of the cause of the capsizing.

The four people who died were brought to Egypt's Hurghada hospital on the Red Sea coast, the ministry said on social media.

Four injured people were airlifted and 18 others were transported by ambulance to another local hospital, it added.

Egypt's petroleum ministry said on Facebook it had received a report from Offshore Shukheir oil Company (Osoco) that the barge capsized in the Gebel El-Zeit area in the Gulf of Suez.

The area is around 300 kilometres (190 miles) south of the Suez Canal, a key waterway linking Europe and Asia.

The canal accounted for about 10 percent of global maritime trade before Yemen's Huthis began attacking vessels transiting the Red Sea in late 2023.

The Huthi rebels say their attacks are committed in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel and militant group Hamas have been at war since October 2023.