An Egyptian diver who helped in the rescue operation after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea has told the BBC how the rescuers had to search the vessel by torchlight to find its passengers and crew.
“We dived 12m (40ft) under water – the survivors were trapped inside the boat cabins,” Khattab al-Faramawy said in a phone call.
Rescuers found four bodies and five survivors on Tuesday after Sea Story, which was carrying 44 passengers and crew, sank on Monday after reportedly being hit by a large wave near Marsa Alam.
The victims’ identities have not yet been disclosed by authorities. The BBC understands two of the missing are British nationals.
Mr al-Faramawy told me the rescuers had to go into the boat and open the cabin doors to get the passengers out.
“We were using torch lights to try to find our way into the darkness, it was quite a complicated mission,” he said.
“My heart goes out to the families of the dead, and I hope they will find all the missing passengers alive,” he added.
The Sea Story is largely submerged, Mr al-Faramawy said, with less than a metre of the boat still above water.
Among those he rescued on Tuesday was his 23-year-old nephew Youssef, a diving instructor.
Hussam al-Faramawy, Youssef’s father, broke down in tears the moment he discovered his son was alive.
“I couldn’t tell his mother what happened to the boat, she would have died immediately, I only told her after I realised that he survived,” he told us.
Youssef is currently receiving treatment in a local hospital.
“He was trying to save the passengers on board but got locked in one of the cabins,” his father told me in an emotional phone call.
He found it hard to describe how he kept waiting to hear a word about his son. “I could do nothing but pray to God to help my boy, and thankfully his uncle finally saved him.”
The Egyptian navy is in charge of the rescue operation and the military has kept the survivors away from the media.
The local authorities have posted videos of the rescue operation with footage showing survivors wrapped in blankets – including one on a stretcher – being brought to shore.
One unnamed survivor is seen saying he had been “shaking with cold” before being rescued.
The 44m Sea Story had left a port near Marsa Alam on Sunday for a five-day diving trip. It is believed to have been hit by rough winds overnight on Sunday, with Red Sea governor Maj-Gen Amr Hanafi saying it sank within five to seven minutes.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned of high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity on Sunday and Monday.
Egyptian officials said the vessel had a valid safety certificate and was understood to have no technical problems.
Diving tours and sea cruises are a huge attraction for tourists visiting the Egyptian Red Sea resorts. Marsa Alam, where the boat had departed from, is a popular destination among European visitors, due to its clear waters, sunny weather and magnificent marine life.
According to the local council in Marsa Alam, the tourists on board were from Belgium, the UK, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the US.
Among the missing are two Polish tourists and one from Finland, according to those nations’ foreign ministries.
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said they were providing “support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt”.
The Chinese embassy in Egypt said two of its nationals were “in good health” after being rescued.
