Five survivors ‘were found INSIDE capsized Egypt yacht in room not filled with water’ as search for two Brits continues
FIVE survivors were reportedly found inside the capsized Egyptian yacht in a room not yet filled with water.
Two Brits remain unaccounted for after the Sea Story diving boat sank early in the Red Sea on Monday morning.
Rescue teams searching for survivors found five inside a room not yet filled with water in the overturned vessel on Tuesday morning, AFP reports an anonymous government official as saying.
There were 31 tourists on board the boat and 13 crew members when it sunk.
Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said on Tuesday: “Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers.”
He also said some passengers were inside the cabins, “which is why they couldn’t get out of the boat”.
Military divers rescued two Belgians, one Swiss national, one Finnish tourist and one Egyptian, the governor said.
The number of survivors is now 33, with four confirmed dead and seven still missing.
Two of those missing are the Brits with another two Polish tourists and one holidaymaker from Finland also missing, according to both countries’ foreign ministries.
The Sea Story yacht left Porto Ghalib Port for a multi-day diving trip off the coast of the holiday hotspot and travelled south towards Marsa Alam where it sank.
Survivors have revealed they heard trapped tourists screaming from inside their cabins.
One of the rescued British tourists said it was pitch black when the fatal wave struck at around 5:30am local time.
They recalled feeling like they were close to suffocating as the strong current ripped through the boat following the heavy winds and damaging waves.
The tourist said: “I was on the surface when things started to go wrong. I felt the boat tilting sharply, and I tried to hold on to something stable, but the capsizing was very fast.
“I heard screams from inside the cabins, but many were unable to get out because the doors were closed and the place was filled with water.”
A crew member sent out a distress signal from the boat before it suddenly dropped off the radar and lost all contact.
The doomed yacht took just five minutes to sink after witnesses described seeing an “abnormally large” wave hitting the boat before it capsized.
A professional diver who was out on the water when the yacht was attacked by the wave has revealed what he saw.
They said: “I was on the surface when things started to go wrong. I felt the boat tilting sharply, and I tried to hold on to something stable, but the capsizing was very fast.
“I heard screams from inside the cabins, but many were unable to get out because the doors were closed and the place was filled with water.”
Support is also being given to “a number of British nationals and their families”, the UK Foreign Office confirmed.
The boat had been on the water despite authorities in Hurghada shutting down activities and the city’s port on Sunday due to bad weather conditions.
Egyptian weather forecasters predicted wave heights to reach 10-13ft in the Red Sea before Sea Story departed.
It was unclear how the tourist vessel was given permission to sail in such stormy conditions.