Red Sea divers rescued

2004-08-08 22:25

Cairo - Twelve foreign divers who went missing off Egypt's Red Sea coast during a scuba expedition have been rescued, a government official said on Sunday.

Amr Ali, an official with the Red Sea Diving Union, said the divers - five Britons, five Portuguese and two Belgians - were rescued by a diving boat at 21:00 (18:00 GMT), about 11 hours after they went missing off al-Quseir, a diving resort 330km south of the capital, Cairo.

"They were found floating in the water and all of them were alive," Ali told The Associated Press from al-Quseir.

Strong Red Sea currents swept the divers several miles west of al-Akhawain island, the dive site they and 10 other divers had been taken to by a charter boat, Ali said.

Ali said the rescued divers would be taken to the Red Sea coastal town of Safaga, about 100km north of al-Quseir.

Tourism ministry spokesperson Hala El Khatib said military helicopters joined the rescue mission that "succeeded in finding all of them alive and in good health".

She attributed the cause of the mishap to their "miscalculation" of the sea currents, adding that the 12 rescued divers had decided to continue their holiday

An official at the Red Sea provincial official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the divers were spotted in the water by a search helicopter.

Egypt is a popular destination for divers from around the world.

- AP