Three British tourists were missing Sunday after a motor yacht caught fire in Egypt's Red Sea, authorities said.

The Red Sea governorate said in a statement that "15 English passengers, 10 members of the crew, and two tour guides" had been rescued, and that the search for the three missing was ongoing.

Video circulating on media and online showed a white motor yacht named "Hurricane" with flames erupting from it.

Initial reports blamed the fire on an electrical fault in the engine room, officials said.

The boat was on a six-day cruise and due back Sunday when the blaze broke out while it was about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the coastal town of Marsa Alam.

The Red Sea is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 105 million in serious economic crisis. The sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of GDP.

On Thursday a Russian tourist was killed by a shark off the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada.