Sixteen folks stay lacking after the sinking of Purple Sea liveaboard Sea Story at Sha’ab Sataya (also referred to as Dolphin Reef), off the coast of Marsa Alam, Egypt, on Monday morning.
Two British divers are believed to be among the many lacking passengers.
An enormous search and rescue operation involving the Egyptian Navy was mounted after authorities obtained a misery name at about 5.30 am on Monday, 25 November, earlier than all contact with the vessel was misplaced.
Sea Story departed from Port Ghalib on Sunday, 24 November on a tour scheduled to complete in Hurghada on 29 November. There have been 31 passengers ‘of various nationality’ on board, plus the Egyptian crew making a complete of 44 – early studies mentioned there had been 45 folks on board.
In line with the newest updates, as of 6 pm (GMT) on Monday, 28 folks have now been rescued. The operation to find the 16 which can be nonetheless lacking has been suspended for the night time.
Purple Sea Governor Main Basic Amr Hanafi mentioned a number of the lacking passengers had been positioned and rescued close to the Al-Ghadeer space of Wadi El Gamal and flown again to shore by way of army helicopter; others had been picked up by the Egyptian Navy frigate Al-Fateh.
In line with the Egyptian information web site Masrawy, there have been 4 British divers on board and two Individuals, with different nationalities together with Belgian, Chinese language, Finnish, German, Irish, Norwegian, Polish, Slovakian, Spanish and Swiss.
4 Egyptian vacationers had been additionally on board.
A spokesperson for the Chinese language Embassy in Egypt mentioned that two Chinese language residents ‘had been in good well being’ after the rescue; a spokesman for the Polish international ministry mentioned that they ‘have info that two of the vacationers might have had Polish citizenship’, though he didn’t say in the event that they had been among the many lacking or had been rescued.
In line with the BBC, a spokesperson for the British Overseas Workplace mentioned they had been ‘offering assist to plenty of British nationals and their households following an incident in Egypt’.
The 44m/144ft wooden-hulled Sea Story was owned by Hurghada-based Dive Professional Liveaboards. She was a brand new vessel in-built 2022 and fitted out for 36 passengers in 18 cabins.
One of many survivors has reportedly mentioned Sea Story was ‘hit by a wave in the midst of the night time, throwing the vessel on its facet.’ The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had apparently forecast tough circumstances for the world on Saturday, with waves reaching as much as 4m in top.
Maj Gen Hanafi mentioned that ‘the scenario unfolded quickly, taking solely 5 to seven minutes, and a few passengers had been trapped inside cabins, stopping their escape.’
The circumstances had been mentioned to have been hampering the rescue efforts.
Sea Story is the second Dive Professional Liveaboard to have suffered a significant incident this 12 months, after a German girl went lacking, presumed useless following a hearth on board Sea Legend in February.
This story continues to develop – verify again for updates
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