Missing divers in Sharm el Sheikh

[matgiani]

I am sad to post about this.
It appears two divers did not surface from a shore dive at the "White Knight" site in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and are currently missing.
The dive took place on the morning of October 28.

I have found scarce information so far and mostly from social network activity, but I do know that one of the divers was an Italian instructor, very experienced and widely respected and who had been working in the area for many years. The other was a student of his.

Having been taking regular trips to dive in the area for a couple of years, I am truly saddened by this incident, which is surely leaving a mark in the tight diving community there.

I will be sure to post links to news coverage or further updates if and when I come across more information, and I would really appreciate it if others could do the same so we can shed some light on this disheartening occurrence.

 

[koozemani]

Condolences to the families.

 

[LindaL]

Mat,
I have a friend, dive master in Komodo, who knows the missing Italian diver very well (she worked with him in Sharm). As she is in the Komodo National PArk area, she is struggling to get up to date information (internet not always available), I would be very interested to hear of any news you mind find and I can try and keep her updated. It is a dreadful situation. LindaL

 

[matgiani]

Linda,

to be clear - I myself am just seeing the few bits and pieces of information through social network activity, I am not in Egypt and do not know first hand the people involved.

From the Facebook page of a person directly participating in the search effort, the update seems to be that, as of the afternoon of October 30, the search is still running and has come up empty so far.

I will not name names here but if, as you say, you know the instructor involved, you should be able to find out some more detail on the search conducted so far from Facebook posts (some might be in Italian).

What a dreadful situation indeed.

 

[beaner101]

HI Matgiana.. My husbands brother was the other diver.. we have so many question.. was the dive an easy one? How deep did they go..Was the sea rough with undercurrents ....Please don't stop looking!! and please post any information for us as we are in Canada.

 

[steveharriss]

I'm not out there at the moment but have dived White Knight and Ras Bob, Ras Nasrani a number of times. At the last two dive sites there is generally a current running West to East but White Knight is in a bay and so well protected. There is a sheer drop after 35m or so but there's plenty of warning that it's there and you've been in the water long enough to have got buoyancy sorted. I'd say it's an easy dive and I'm hoping this has a good resolution.

 

[maosub]

dear all, I am an italian instructor living in Sharm since 1996, and the missing instructor was one of my best friends. Anybody in sharm has more details than Matgiani. Fact, the guys are still missing and nobody knows what really happened, only assumptions or rumors. The dive site is an easy entry and shallow dive, with a canyon with several little caves that ends on a sandy plateau at -32mt. Beyond this, a vertical drop off to abyss. All caves have been patrolled by tec divers yesterday with no results. Today the rescue team is focused in surface researches as the currents are quite strong due to full moon. We keep a little light of hope in our hearts.

 

[gianaameri]

dear all, I am an italian instructor living in Sharm since 1996, and the missing instructor was one of my best friends. Anybody in sharm has more details than Matgiani. Fact, the guys are still missing and nobody knows what really happened, only assumptions or rumors. The dive site is an easy entry and shallow dive, with a canyon with several little caves that ends on a sandy plateau at -32mt. Beyond this, a vertical drop off to abyss. All caves have been patrolled by tec divers yesterday with no results. Today the rescue team is focused in surface researches as the currents are quite strong due to full moon. We keep a little light of hope in our hearts.

Is it common practice to enter the canyons or caves in the area for dives like this one resulting in two missing divers?

 

[maosub]

is NOT a common practice to go with a AOWD student in a cave, and I highly doubt that he could do that (fact: they were not inside) and the canyon is really wide and easy dive. They were looking everywhere!!!

 

[gianaameri]

They could have sunk to the bottom, drifted away together, or are lost in a a passage in a cave/cavern/canyon... which they did not intended to take, but took accidentally (it is an easy mistake to make, not to reflect negatively on anybody's skill).

I sincerely hope they are drifting and a search air and rescue operation is on the way and they will be found.

For two divers to go missing at the same time, I think the odds are that they are drifting, or in a cave.

My prayers that they will be found drifting.