Just 10 kilometres from one of the most popular tourist cities in Egypt, Red Sea hides one of it's many wonders - a place which every diver should visit at least once in a lifetime. Blue Hole is a submarine sinkhole with a maximum depth of just over 100 metres. There is also a 26 metre long tunnel known as "the arch" whose top is at the depth of 55 metres which leads to open sea. While being one of the most popular diving spots in the world it is also said to be one of the deadliest and most dangerous ones. The Egyptian authorities report over 40 deaths while unofficialy the death counter rises up to even 200. The sinkhole isn't dangerous itself - it doesn't exceed recreational divers' limits. But "the arch" does - it's dark, hard to locate and disorientating. It's the place where most of the divers diving in Blue Hole lose their life.
The most famous fatal accident is that of Yuri Lipski - a 22 year old diving instructor who died at depth of 115 metres. Yuri took a camera which first filmed his rapid descent and then him drowning to death while trying to ascend. The next day, Lipski's body was recovered and the footage was dicovered. It was given to his mother.
Years later, Tarek Omar said : "If I had known the footage existed I’d have flooded it. I think the thing that really upset and saddened me about it was that his mom has it now – she has the footage of her own son drowning."
Source: http://www.cairoscene.com/LifeStyle/Egyptian-Diver-Tarek-Omar-The-Keeper-of-Dahab-s-Divers-Cemetery
SORRY FOR THE DELAY :((
I wonder why, if this place is so dangerous, it hasn't been closed to tourists. Or at least the diving activity there should be limited and strictly supervised.
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