HURGHADA, Egypt — The body of a St Helens diver has finally been recovered from a shipwreck, ten months after he failed to resurface from beneath the Red Sea, off Eygpt. A seven-strong diving squad that had been specially assembled in recent months found the body of 52-year-old Alan Costello, in the engine room of the bomb-hit 1940s coal ship, the Rosalie Moller, which lies 400-miles off the shore. Father-of-three Alan, from Moss Bank, who ran Fingerpost-based Derbyshire's chemist, failed to emerge from the shipwreck he had been exploring with members of the St Helens-based Northern Union Sub Aqua Club in May last year. In the weeks after he vanished, a series of searches of the vessel and nearby waters took place but there was no sign of his body. However, the team of technical divers - including some from St Helens and others from across the UK - discovered Alan during their first search of the vessel near to a plaque that had been laid in his memory during a dive last year. His widow Tracy is now desperately hoping the Eygptian authorities will give the green light for Alan's body to be brought back to St Helens for a funeral. Tracy told the Star: "I knew five days after he had gone missing that we were looking for a body - I knew he had to be on that wreck somewhere - and now this brings just a little bit of peace to us. "The Egyptian authorities are continuing their investigation and when it is concluded I will see its findings and an inquest could take place in the UK. I would also like to thank the diving team. The time and deication given over the months by these men and the support of their families was all for free and they did not want any recognition, saying only 'it's what you do for a fellow diver'. I cannot find the words to express my gratitude to them all. | | Divers have finally recovered the body of missing BSAC diver, Alan Costello, from the Red Sea. "I also want to thank Kath Griffiths for her love and spiritual guidance and also John Lyon, this would not have been possible without them. The response from friends and customers - who all helped raised funds towards the search - has been overwhelming and testament to the person Alan was. None of us gave up on finding him." The diving team was made up of team leader Albert Robers (Liverpool), Darren Kelly (Dumfries), Paul Cross (Ellesmere Port), Paul Hassett (Bradford), Graham Evans (St Helens), Paul Flaherty (Whitchurch), Scott Waterman (Anglesey). They were accompanied by organiser Rod Griffiths, from Crawford. by Andrew Kilmurray |
