תייר הונגרי נפצע בתאונת סירת פאר ליד מצרים
האלמוגים עשויים להיכנס It is possible that a Hungarian woman was on board during a boat accident off the coast of Egypt on June 26, contrary to initial reports. The crew and all 24 tourists on board were successfully rescued, but the boat itself could not be saved after hitting a coral reef. The Egyptian Minister of Environment Quality announced that a thorough investigation will be opened to determine the cause of the accident and its environmental impact.
According to Reuters, who learned that despite initial reports in June that only French tourists were on board, a Hungarian woman was on the liveaboard that sank on June 26 near Marsa Alam, Egypt. The 36-year-old Hungarian doctor, like the other tourists and crew on board, escaped unharmed. After the accident, the doctor told his sister,
"Do not worry, I am alive, but the boat sank."
A diving vacation that almost ended in tragedy
The accident occurred at Sataya Reef, one of the most popular dive sites in Egypt. The passengers on the pleasure boat had planned to spend a week on the liveaboard participating in a diving vacation.
Reports indicate that the boat accident was caused by large waves that caused the 40-meter Exocet, a dinghy, to hit the coral reef. The boat suffered significant damage from the collision and began to sink. Fortunately, the divers and crew on board were evacuated and transferred to nearby boats, and everyone returned safely to Marsa Alam. As the collision occurred in the evening hours, according to Reuters, it took nine hours in darkness until the rescue was completed.
However, the personal belongings of the tourists, including their valuable diving equipment, had to be left on board during the rescue. Although local divers returned the next day to salvage what they could, the equipment was not found. The sister of the Hungarian doctor on board told Reuters,
"My sister and her French boyfriend were lucky because when the crew started to evacuate, they grabbed the small bags they had, including my sister's bags. Yes, they lost their expensive diving equipment, but their condition was better than those who landed on desolate shores and left all their belongings on board."
She added that the police were investigating the passengers in connection with the boat accident.
The Exocet belonged to the French diving operator Diving Attitude. After the incident, the company wrote a Facebook post: "Of course, it is difficult for us, who loved our beautiful boat so much… But for all the Diving Attitude team, the relief that comes first is knowing that all the people on the Exocet were evacuated quickly and returned safely to Marsa Alam."
Egypt investigates the environmental damage of the boat accident
After the collision with the coral reef, the liveaboard remained afloat for several hours. It later drifted in the waves for about two kilometers from the coral reefs. Here the Exocet sank, where, as Reuters reports, it did not cause any additional environmental damage.
In any case, the Governor of the Red Sea, Major General Amr Hanafi, said that an investigation will be conducted and a detailed report on the extent of the damage to the coral reef will be prepared. Similarly, the Egyptian Minister of Environment Quality, Yasmin Fouad, announced that an investigation will be opened to determine what caused the boat accident and what, if any, impact it had on the area.
Read also:
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Source: Reuters
