A woman has vanished in underwater caves in Egypt after exploring the deep seas as part of an ten-day cruise in the Red Sea with her husband.
Kristina and Yuri Osipova, from St Petersburg, Russia, are believed to be experienced divers, though their recent dive has seemingly taken a turn for the worst.
The couple were part of a group exploring Giftun Island, south of resort Hurghada - when they decided to take the plunge last week.
Advert
The caves - which are formed by rocks overgrown with corals - are quite popular at the island.
It is understood that Kristina and Yuri were already at the permitted 120ft when they decided to go deeper 'without any special equipment'.
But Yuri decided to abort his dive after beginning to lose consciousness, however, his wife was nowhere to be seen.
Russian Consulate General diplomat Alexei Zhilyaev said: “After the husband's ascent, the computer showed a maximum depth of 122 metres [400ft], that is, this is the depth at which they were and both lost consciousness.
Advert
“When her husband surfaced and regained consciousness, his wife was not around.”
A search party is now underway to find the missing tourist, who is also a mother-of-four with children aged between five and 24.
After little success so far, the search area has been expanded but the hope of finding her alive is dwindling, rescuers have said.
Rescue ship commander Mustafa Nabil also told REN TV that her body may not be found if she was carried away by a strong undercurrent.
"Her husband said he began to lose consciousness, what we call nitrogen narcosis, which makes divers feel intoxicated while diving," the commander said.
Advert
Nabil added: "We are still searching for the missing person, we have also informed all ships in the area that if anyone sees the body of a missing diver on the surface to contact law enforcement.”
A record-breaking diver also went down to the depth but unfortunately saw no sign of her.
Osipova has also been taking part in the search for his wife.
Some four boats are currently involved in the search, though hope of a positive outcome dwindles by the day.
Advert
Another diving spot in Egypt has also been gaining attention after featuring in the Netflix documentary, The Deepest Breath.
The Blue Hole is a hugely popular place for scuba divers and is a submarine sinkhole which shelves off extremely quickly very near to the shore.
It drops down to a depth of around 100 metres at its deepest, and has two connections to the ocean.
It is also the sight where diver, Yuri Lipski, recorded his final moments before his tragic death.
Topics: Travel, News, World News
Callum Jones