MARSA ALAM, Egypt (9 Jan 2007) -- A massive four-day air and sea search aimed at rescuing four divers who went missing on Saturday while scuba diving in the Red Sea has been called off. Alaa El Din Abdelgeleel of the Red Sea Association of Diving and Watersports said there is no chance the missing divers could still be alive. "I am sorry to say there is no chance to find them alive," said Alaa El Din Abdelgeleel, the association's head. "We are limiting the search to the coastal areas, looking for their bodies," he said. The missing divers include Russian tourists Yelena Sundukova and Dmitry Kapitonov, Dutch tourist Michel van Assendeof and Eygyptian dive guide Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan. Vladislav Lukyanchenko, a fifth Russian tourist who was diving with the group, survived after swimming for three hours before he reached shore, lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital. Rough water Lukyanchenko told authorities that all five divers surfaced together on Saturday morning but lost contact with their dive boat in rough seas and attempted to swim to shore despite high waves and sharks. The dive boat skipper said that when the divers did not return to the boat as planned, he searched the area and then called a local dive shop who notified authorities of the missing diver emergency. At about 11:30am, authorities launched a search for the missing divers but failed to find them and suspended the search on Saturday evening. | | Marsa Alam Despite a massive air and sea search which involved at least 15 boats and a helicopter, no trace of the missing divers was found on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday evening, the Red Sea Association of Diving and Watersports announced that their mission had changed from rescue to recovery of the divers' bodies. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKCDNN Related NewsEGYPT - Man dies after Red Sea scuba diving accidentEGYPT - Scuba instructor, dive guide among four divers missing in Red Sea |
