Tragically, the three British divers who were missing following the devastating fire that ripped through the Egyptian Red Sea liveaboard Hurricane on Sunday (11 June) morning have now been declared dead.
It appears that the three divers had decided not to take part in the early morning dive on Elphinstone, which meant that when the fire broke out around 6.30am, they were still in their cabins rather than at the dive briefing with the other 12 divers, who were safely evacuated from the stricken vessel.
According to a statement released by tour operator Scuba Travel, the UK representatives of the Tornado Marine Fleet, which operated Hurricane, ‘The severity of the fire meant that the 12 divers were immediately evacuated by RIB to another craft nearby and the 14 crew-members, including the captain and two dive-guides, having tried to reach the missing guests, also had to abandon ship and were rescued by RIB'.
‘It is with great regret that we, as tour operator, with heavy hearts, must accept that three of our much-valued dive guests. who had not participated in the dive briefing, early on the morning of 11 June, perished in the tragic incident. Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to their families and friends at this very sad time'.
Regrettably, it seems to be a trend of sinking vessels this year. One in the Philippines in April which was sunk by a squall, and now this.