3 scuba divers, guide missing in Red Sea

Rescuers searched Sunday for three foreign scuba divers and their Egyptian guide who got lost while exploring a coral reef in the Red Sea, while a fifth member of the group reached a village after swimming for hours.

The diver who swam to safety, a Russian, said there had been sharks in the area.

More than a dozen boats, a helicopter and volunteer divers searched unsuccessfully for the divers _ two Russians and a Dutch man, said Alaa El Din Abdelgeleel, who heads the search and rescue committee for the Red Sea Association for Diving and Marine Sport.

"Their diving suits will help them float as well as keep them warm, and we will start searching again in the early morning," Abdelgeleel said. He noted that although sharks were in the area, chances of an attack were slim.

He said he remained optimistic that they would be found alive, but said the waves were strong and the divers did not have flash lights or whistles, which could help rescuers locate them. The water temperature was about 68 degrees.

The four foreigners set out with their Egyptian guide Saturday morning about 8 miles north of the Red Sea resort town of Marsa Alam, located about 435 miles southeast of Cairo, Abdelgeleel said.

The five were diving near a large coral reef and were scheduled to return to their boat 45 minutes later, he said. When they did not return on time, the boat's captain called the local diving center and reported them missing. As part of the initial search, the boat sailed near the reef to look for the divers but did not find them.

One of the divers, identified by the Russian Foreign Ministry as Vladislav Lukyanchenko, told officials that the group had gotten lost in the water and started swimming in the direction of a coastal village, Abdelgeleel said.

Lukyanchenko said he got separated from the others while swimming in the rocky waters and battling strong winds and high waves. He reached the village after three hours, then lost consciousness.

Lukyanchenko, who was released from the hospital Sunday, said sharks appeared in the area where the team had been diving, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Egyptian diving association identified the missing scuba guide as Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan. The Russians were identified as Dmitry Kapitonov and Yelena Sundukova, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Abdelgeleel said Sundukova was a professional diving instructor.

Abdelgeleel identified the missing Dutch man as Michel van Assendflft. The Dutch Embassy in Cairo said it did not have any information about him.

In a separate incident, Russian diver Alexei Borisov died Saturday while diving in the Red Sea, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported, quoting Bashir Malsagov, the Russian consul in Cairo. Officials did not provide details about the death.

Fatal scuba diving accidents are not common in the Red Sea. Thousands of foreigners come to Egypt annually to scuba dive because of the water's famous coral reefs.

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Associated Press Writer Omar Sinan contributed to this report from Cairo.