Hungarian tourist on board at luxury-boat accident near Egypt

A Hungarian woman was on board during a boat accident off the coast of Egypt on 26 June, contrary to initial statements on the scene. The crew and all 24 tourists travelling on the vessel were successfully rescued, but the ship itself could not be saved after it hit a coral reef. The Egyptian Environment Minister announced that a thorough investigation will be launched to establish the cause of the accident and its environmental impact.

Telex has learned that, despite initial reports in June that only French guests were on board, a Hungarian woman was travelling on the liveaboard boat that sank on 26 June near Marsa Alam, Egypt. The 36-year-old Hungarian doctor, like the other tourists and crew on deck, escaped unhurt. After the accident, the doctor messaged her sister,

“Don’t worry, I’m alive, but the ship sank.”

A diving holiday that almost ended in tragedy

The accident took place at the Sataya Reef, which is one of Egypt’s most popular sites for divers. The passengers on the cruise ship were planning to spend a week on the liveaboard ship taking part in a diving holiday.

According to reports, the boat accident was brought on by large waves which caused the Exocet, a 40-metre-long vessel, to strike the surrounding coral reef. The ship sustained significant damage from the impact and began to sink. Fortunately, the divers and crew onboard were evacuated and transferred to other nearby vessels, and everyone returned safely to Marsa Alam. As the collision happened in the evening hours, according to Telex, it took nine hours in the dark for the rescue to finish.

However, the tourists’ personal belongings, including their valuable diving equipment, had to be left on board during the rescue. Although the next day local divers went back to salvage what they could, the equipment was not recovered. The sister of the Hungarian doctor on the ship told Telex,

“My sister and her French partner were lucky because when the crew started to evacuate, they grabbed the small bags they had, and among them were my sister’s bags. True, they lost their expensive diving gear, but they were better off than those who came ashore barefoot and left all their stuff on the boat”.

She added that the police had questioned the passengers in connection with the boat accident.

The Exocet belonged to the French dive operator Diving Attitude. After the event, the company wrote in a Facebook post: “Of course, the situation is tough for us, who loved our beautiful boat so much… But for the whole Diving Attitude team, the feeling that comes first is one of great relief to know that all the people present on Exocet were quickly evacuated and returned safely to Marsa Alam.”

Egypt investigates the environmental damage of the boat accident

After the collision with the reef, the liveaboard remained afloat for several hours. It was only later washed away by waves to about two kilometres from the coral reefs. Here Exocet sank, where, as Telex reports, it caused no further environmental damage.

In any case, the Governor of the Red Sea, Major General Amr Hanafy, said that an investigation would be carried out and a detailed report would be prepared on the extent of the damage to the coral reef. Similarly, Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad announced that an investigation would be launched to find out what caused the boat accident and what, if any, effects it would have on the area.

Read also:

• French tourist’s life saved by lifeguards of the famous Gellért Bath in Budapest – HERE
• Plane makes emergency landing in Budapest due to two serious incidents – Read HERE

Source: Telex