Diver exploring deep-sea Blue Hole recorded eerie final moments before his death
Warning: This article contains a video which some readers may find distressing.
A man tragically lost his life after exploring a popular diving spot in Egypt.
Yuri Lipski was a Russian-Israeli diving instructor who was visiting a location called the Blue Hole - a 330-foot marine sinkhole, five miles north of Dahab.
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Many divers are drawn to the location in the Red Sea in Egypt - despite its ominous nickname of 'divers’ cemetery' - to explore its layout, and Yuri was one of them.
Upon his arrival at the location in April 2000, Yuri reportedly spoke to veteran diving instructor Tarek Omar, who told him he would need specialist training to dive to the archway.
Tarek told Scene Arabia that he said to Yuri: "I said ‘OK, so you’ll need two weeks’ training with me first, and then we’ll film’.”
But Yuri only had a couple of days in town, and was keen to get down to the archway.
Acting against Tarek's advice, he attempted the dive by himself, with tragic consequences.
When he went on the dive, Yuri was wearing a video camera to capture the trip. Unfortunately, it ended up capturing the eerie final moments before his death.
Harrowing footage shows the perspective of the 22-year-old as he entered an uncontrolled descent to a depth believed to be around 91 meters below the surface.
There is a horrifying change as the light fades, before he finally reaches the bottom.
At depths such as that the body can enter a state called nitrogen narcosis, which can cause hallucination and dissociation.
This is bad enough at the surface but deep underwater where you need your wits about you, it can be deadly.
In the end, it was Tarek who made the unenviable trip into the Blue Hole to retrieve Yuri's body, something he has done many times at the dangerous site.
He told Scene Arabia: “Recovering bodies is a case by case thing; I do it pro bono.
“It is a very critical and difficult thing to do - it requires more than just being a technical diver, it takes more than experience. It is very hard because you dive deep and you stay down to locate the remains."
When Tarek found Yuri, he also found the camera which somehow still functioned despite not being designed for such depths.
The footage has since become a harrowing reminder of the dangers of diving alone.
Topics: Sport, World News
Kit Roberts