A survivor of a yacht that sunk off the coast of Egypt has told how he narrowly escaped disaster.
Those onboard were forced to swim in the dark after the boat capsized on Monday, caught in large waves.
The Sea Story had been carrying 44 including 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip when it went down south of the coastal town of popular tourist destination Marsa Alam at around 5.30am local time.
Reports said four Britons were on board the vessel when it went down, and two of them remained missing.
Initially, 28 people survived the incident, sustaining only minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes after they were dramatically hauled to safety or found inside air pockets - in rooms not filled with water.
One British survivor told The Times: “What saved me was my life jacket, which kept me on the surface until the rescue teams arrived.
“Water surrounded us. I tried to swim up but the current was too strong and I felt like I was choking.”
A surviving crew member explained disaster struck when the Sea Story was “hit by a wave in the middle of the night, throwing the vessel on its side”.
Those on board said a “high sea wave” hit the vessel and caused it to capsize in “about five or seven minutes”, according to the governor of the Red Sea, Amr Hanafi.
Father of crew member Youssef Al-Farmawi said his son and Captain Alaa Hussein managed to send out a distress signal before the tragedy.
“Then Youssef rushed to help a man and a woman. Youssef was their diving instructor and they were trapped in a cabin but the water flooded the boat,” he told The Times.
“However, about 20cm inside the cabin were still not flooded, which helped them breathe and stay alive until the rescue teams arrived.”
On Tuesday morning, it was reported some 16 people remained missing as a search and rescue operation resumed.
It was said that four bodies were then found along with three survivors, who were two Belgians and an Egyptian. A fourth and fifth person were later found alive. It is understood they had been in the water for more than 30 hours.
There were seven people unaccounted for.
Rescue operations are being co-ordinated by the Egyptian military and the Red Sea Governorate.
The UK Foreign Office said it is providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families and are in contact with the local authorities.
The Sea Story is the second boat to sink in the area this year. In June, a boat sank after it suffered severe damage from strong waves, the Environment Ministry said at the time. No casualties were reported.
