'We were pressured to sign documents' say Red Sea dive-boat disaster survivors

Survivors of a deadly dive-boat sinking successful the Red Sea accidental they were pressured to motion authoritative witnesser statements successful Arabic - which they couldn't recognize and had been translated from English by an worker of the vessel company.

They accidental the antheral besides tried to get them to motion waivers which stated they did not impeach anyone of "criminal wrongdoing".

The 11 survivors who person spoken to the BBC person besides accused the Egyptian authorities of trying to screen up what happened, saying investigators were determined to blasted it connected a immense wave.

The Sea Story had been carrying 46 radical erstwhile it sank successful the aboriginal hours of 25 November past twelvemonth - 4 bodies were recovered and 7 radical are inactive missing, including 2 British divers.

Neither the Egyptian authorities nor the vessel operators - Dive Pro Liveaboard, based successful Hurghada - person responded to our questions.

On Tuesday, the BBC revealed aggregate accusations from survivors of information failings connected committee the vessel. A starring oceanographer who analysed upwind information besides said it was not plausible that a immense question had deed the vessel.

Within hours of being brought ashore, survivors accidental they were subjected to what 1 described arsenic "an interrogation", immoderate from their infirmary beds, by radical they were told were judges.

Those who didn't request infirmary attraction were interviewed astatine a adjacent resort, said different survivors, who reported the aforesaid feelings of being pressured.

"We were told we couldn't permission the country until they'd done everybody's statements," says Sarah Martin, an NHS doc from Lancashire.

The judges were portion of an Egyptian probe into what caused the sinking - though survivors accidental it was not wide precisely who was starring it.

The survivors accidental having their archetypal statements translated into Arabic by an worker of the institution that owned the Sea Story was a wide struggle of interest.

Spanish diver Hissora Gonzalez said the antheral did not initially present himself arsenic an employee. "He conscionable said, 'You person to archer maine what happened, and past you person to motion this portion of paper.'"

It was not until later, accidental respective radical we spoke to, that the antheral told them helium worked for Dive Pro Liveaboard.

The survivors accidental that, aft being translated by the man, their statements were handed to investigators - thing that shocked Lisa Wolf. "A mean justice can't instrumentality a translation from idiosyncratic that's evidently wholly progressive successful the process."

One survivor, who is simply a Norwegian constabulary investigator, said she had "no clue" what the 4 pages of Arabic handed backmost to her really said. "They could person written anything. I don't cognize what I signed," Frøydis Adamson explained. Under her signature she says she wrote that she had not been capable to work the documents.

"We were successful specified daze and conscionable wanted to spell home," said Hissora.

Representatives of the vessel operators, Dive Pro Liveaboard, besides repeatedly tried to propulsion radical into signing waivers - accidental survivors - which would person seen them agreeing to the statement: "I bash not impeach anyone of immoderate transgression wrongdoing."

Justin Hodges, an American diver who was besides rescued, told america the "release of liability document", written successful English, was handed to him arsenic helium was giving his witnesser statement.

He said helium had thought the idiosyncratic helium was talking to was "an official", but astatine this constituent learned that helium worked for the company.

"He slid successful with the authorities," says Justin. "The information helium tried to get america to merchandise liability astatine that infinitesimal was insane to me."

At slightest immoderate of the radical we spoke to didn't motion the document.

Everyone we spoke to said they had not been allowed to support copies of their statements, but the BBC was told immoderate radical had managed to construe the documents with their phones. Many of those told america that key, damning details which they had conveyed verbally were near retired of the paperwork.

"Everything astir the information of the beingness rafts and information issues connected the vessel went away," says Lisa.

Sarah and Hissora reported the aforesaid experience. "They conscionable enactment immoderate they wanted," says Hissora.

Survivors besides accidental the authorities seemed determined to blasted the calamity connected a immense question from the outset.

That is contempt galore of those rescued saying the waves were not excessively large to halt them swimming. A starring oceanographer has told the BBC that contemporaneous meteorological information from the nearest airdrome powerfully supports the survivors' recollections.

Hissora asked if she could yet spot a transcript of the investigators' last report, but says she was told determination was nary need. "[It's like] they already knew the origin was a wave," she says.

When she asked again, Hissora said she was told "the lone 1 liable for this is the sea". She believes the authorities had already made up their minds earlier the probe had adjacent begun.

Hissora's concerns are shared by Sarah, who says the judges were besides "very eager" that survivors didn't blasted anyone for the accident.

Multiple survivors accidental they were told that if they wanted to clasp anyone responsible, they had to sanction an idiosyncratic and circumstantial transgression of which they were accused.

"Just due to the fact that I couldn't sanction the idiosyncratic and the crime, it didn't mean idiosyncratic wasn't to blame," says Sarah.

A last effort by Dive Pro Liveaboard to get survivors to motion waivers was made arsenic 1 radical tried to permission for Cairo, says Justin.

Having mislaid their passports astatine sea, helium says the radical was told by a institution typical that the documents being presented to them were clearance papers to get done checkpoints.

"But past I get to the bottommost and the past condemnation is the aforesaid merchandise of liability question," - a repetition of the 1 helium says helium was asked to motion erstwhile helium gave his witnesser statement.

Justin says helium went to alert the others and, erstwhile helium returned to the antheral who helium believed was trying to mislead him, the papers had "magically disappeared" and been replaced with much official-looking documents.

"My humor was boiling," helium says.

The BBC has not seen the waiver documents oregon copies of them.

The household and friends of the 2 missing Britons, Jenny Cawson and Tarig Sinada from Devon, accidental they person perpetually received partial and inaccurate quality from the Egyptian government.

For example, aft the catastrophe they accidental they were told the vessel had not been recovered - contempt the information they saw connected TV survivors from the wreck being brought ashore. They are calling for an unfastened investigation.

"It would look that Egyptian authorities are doing their precise champion to benignant of expanse this nether the carpet," says 1 friend, Andy Williamson. "They privation to support their tourism industry."

In March, a occurrence connected different Dive Pro Liveaboard vessel - the Sea Legend - killed a German tourist.

Last year, Maritime Survey International, an autarkic consultancy, produced a study connected the information of dive boats successful the Red Sea. It inspected 8 vessels, though not including immoderate operated by Dive Pro Liveaboard, and recovered nary had "a planned attraction system, information absorption strategy oregon stableness books", a important papers for avoiding capsize.

It besides recovered plan standards to beryllium "poor with each the vessels lacking watertight bulkheads, doors and hatches".

It concluded that not a azygous vas was harmless and the dive vessel manufacture successful Egypt "plies its commercialized mostly unregulated".