A tourist boat sank in Egypt. 16 people are missing, including a Swiss man. Survivors report a “sudden, big wave”.
The “Sea Story” sank in heavy seas in the Red Sea early Monday morning with 44 people on board. 28 survivors were rescued from the water, 16 people are still missing. Including a Swiss.
The big question: How did the accident happen? The Egyptian media quoted the head of a diving resort near the rescue operation as saying he had spoken to a surviving crew member. Accordingly, the submersible was “hit by a wave in the middle of the night,” which threw the ship on its side.
The governor in charge, Major General Amr Hanafi, said that according to initial reports, it appeared that the boat was hit by a “sudden, large wave” and sank within five to seven minutes. Some passengers could not have escaped as they were in their cabins at the time, he added.
Apparently the yacht set out on a five-day diving expedition on Sunday evening, despite a storm warning from the Egyptian weather authority.
There were 13 Egyptian crew members and 31 tourists on board the sunken submersible. These are said to be holiday guests from Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, USA, Poland, Belgium, Finland, China, Spain and Slovakia. In previous reports there was talk of a total of 45 passengers.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed in the afternoon that there were two Swiss nationals among the passengers. One person was rescued and is uninjured, while the second is still missing.
A total of 16 people are still missing: four Egyptians and 12 foreigners. The navy and the Egyptian armed forces would carry out “intensive search operations,” said Governor Hanafi on Monday.
28 survivors were rescued from the water near the coastal town of Marsa Alam. Hanafi said some were rescued by plane while others were brought to safety aboard a warship.
A video released by the State Information Service shows the governor speaking to survivors of the incident in Marsa Alam.
According to a statement from the responsible authorities, the 34-meter-long and only two-year-old “Sea Story” belongs to an Egyptian citizen. The submersible was operated by the company “Dive Pro Liveaboard” in Hurghada.
It was only technically checked in March and received approval for one year. The yacht set off on a multi-day diving trip from Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam in the southeast on Sunday and was due to dock in the city of Hurghada, 200 kilometers to the north, on Friday.
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