Egypt’s search for Red Sea sinking survivors enters third day

CAIRO: The search operation for seven people still missing from a dive boat that capsized and sank off Egypt’s east coast entered a third day on Wednesday, the governor of the Red Sea province said.
The country released video footage Wednesday morning of the latest tourists rescued from the vessel aboard which at least four people, including one Slovak tourist, died.
The governor’s office said the search operation was continuing for seven people still missing after the “Sea Story” was struck by a wave and capsized in the middle of the night on Monday.
The vessel had set off the day before from Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam in the southeast, on a multi-day diving trip with 31 tourists — mostly Europeans, along with Chinese and US nationals — and a 13-member crew.
A military-led team on Tuesday rescued two Belgians, one Swiss national, one Finnish tourist and one Egyptian, authorities said, and recovered four bodies.
Slovakia’s foreign ministry said Egyptian authorities confirmed the death of one of its citizens on Wednesday. Two others were among the survivors.
A total of 33 people have been rescued, including tourists seen in the video stepping off a speedboat, wrapped in blankets, at a marina near Marsa Alam.
“We were shaking with cold,” one unidentified man said in the footage.
The tourists who appeared in the video had spent at least 24 hours inside a cabin of the overturned vessel before rescuers found them on Tuesday morning, according to a government source close to the rescue operations.
Two survivors — one identified by authorities on camera as an Egyptian — were rolled out on stretchers, one of them conscious and speaking.
A Belgian tourist sobbed when she was greeted by Marsa Alam mayor General Hazem Khalil.
Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said the boat capsized “suddenly and quickly within five-seven minutes” after being struck by a strong wave in the middle of the night, leaving some passengers unable to escape their cabins.
The Sea Story had been due to dock on Friday at the tourist resort of Hurghada, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Marsa Alam.
Authorities in Egypt have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical faults.
There were at least two similar boat accidents in the Marsa Alam area earlier this year, with no fatalities.
The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt.
Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt’s eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.