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Survivors of the sunken Egyptian vessel which capsized in the Red Sea used 20cm air pockets to stay alive for around 30 hours, a family member has revealed.
The survivors battled for their lives in “complete darkness”, as they shared a small pocket of a cabin in which they were trapped for more than a day in “cold water”, Hussam al-Faramawy told The Times.
Mr al-Faramawy’s son Youssef, was a diving instructor rescued from the yacht. Youssef had “sent out a distress signal” along with the vessel’s captain, before going to help a man and woman who were “trapped in a cabin”.
He was among the five people rescued on Tuesday over a day after the boat capsized. This brought the total number of people rescued to 33, after 28 were rescued on Monday.
Four bodies were recovered from the boat on Tuesday, with seven people still remain missing.
According to the AFP news agency, two Britons were among those rescued on Monday. But two Britons remain unaccounted for, and according to some reports are among the seven missing.
Pictured: Survivors are tended to by Egyptian military and medics
Timescale of the Red Sea boat disaster and response effort
On Saturday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority forecast high seas on the Red Sea, with 40mph winds and 12-foot waves, and advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.
On Sunday, Sea Story left Port Ghalib, just north of the resort of Marsa Alam, on a routine five-day voyage. On board: 13 crew and 31 divers.
Early on Monday morning the vessel capsized after being struck by a large wave, according to the accounts of survivors. The crew managed to send out a distress call at around 5:30am, and 28 of the people on board were rescued that day.
Search efforts continued into the evening on Monday, before they resumed on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday, Egyptian authorities recovered four bodies and rescued five people, bringing the total up to 33.
On Wednesday, none of the seven who remained missing were reported to be found. Going into Thursday, the fourth day of the search effort, still no updates have been provided.
Pictured: Survivor is brought to safety
Survivors were in ‘complete darkness’ for 30 hours
The survivors who spent a day battling for their lives underwater remained in “complete darkness” for around 30 hours as they awaited their rescue, it has been revealed.
Speaking to The Times, Hussam al-Faramawy – whose diving instructor son was stuck on the boat – said they were sharing an air pocket just 20cm in size. They remained “in this situation in complete darkness and cold water for about 30 hours”, before being rescued at around 11am on Tuesday.
Mr al-Faramawy’s son was one of those rescued, and his brother, Khattab al-Faramawy, was involved in the rescue efforts.
Survivors ‘used tiny 20cm air pocket to stay alive’
The father of Youssef al-Faramawy, one of the divers on the Sea Story yacht who was rescued by his own uncle, has revealed further details about how people survived for an entire day in the sunken boat.
Tiny air pockets in the corner of the room allowed them to survive while trapped in the cabins. Only around 20cm of the inside of the cabins were left unflooded, Hussam al-Faramawy told The Times.
Youssef “sent out a distress signal” along with Captain Alaa Hussein, Mr al-Faramawy said.
He then went to help a man and woman who were “trapped in a cabin” but the “water flooded the boat”.
They survived because “about 20cm inside the cabin were still not flooded, which helped them breathe and stay alive until rescue teams arrived”, he added.
Full report: Survivors of sunken Red Sea yacht spent a day trapped in cabins underwater, diver reveals
Read the full report from my colleague Alex Croft below:
Two Britons rescued, two still missing
News has emerged that two British people were among those rescued from the Sea Story yacht on Monday.
A hospital source told AFP news agency that six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries on Monday.
Among the tourists were “two Germans, two Britons, a Spaniard and a Swiss”, the hospital administrator told the agency, requesting anonymity.
Two Britons are still unaccounted for. Some reports have suggested they are among the seven people still missing, but identities of the four bodies recovered on Tuesday have not been confirmed.
What caused the yacht to sink?
It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck motor yacht to sink after it departed from the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam on Monday.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority on Saturday warned about rough weather and large waves, advising against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday on the Red Sea.
A surviving crew member also said the boat was “hit by a wave in the middle of the night, throwing the vessel on its side”.
Other survivors said a “high sea wave” hit the vessel and caused it to capsize in “about five or seven minutes”, according to the governor of the Red Sea region Amr Hanafi.
But an oceaonographer has cast doubt on whether this is what caused the vessel to sink, suggesting the wind conditions would not have been severe enough to produce a wave capable of capsizing a yacht.
Speaking to Sky News, Simon Boxall called for an investigation into the incident.
Diver rescued his nephew from sunken yacht
Khattab al-Faramawy, the diver who revealed that survivors were pulled from their cabins where they had been trapped after the Sea Story vessel sunk, has shared more details of the rescue effort.
His 23-year-old nephew Youssef, a diving instructor, was among those that he rescued on Tuesday.
Youssef’s father, Hussam, broke down in tears after discovering his son was alive, and only told his son’s mother what was happening “after I realised that [Youssef] survived”.
“He was trying to save the passengers on board but got locked in one of the cabins,” Mr al-Faramawy (Hussam) told the BBC.
Youssef is being treated in a local hospital, the broadcaster reports.
This post was originally published on here
