Prosecution opens investigation as Ukrainian tourist drowned off Sinai’s Dahab coast

CAIRO – 29 May 2021: The Egyptian Public Prosecution on Saturday ordered an investigation into the death of a Ukrainian tourist who reportedly drowned while practicing diving off South Sinai’s Dahab coast.

The prosecution did not uncover the identity of the tourist in its statement but Ukrainian media said he was the country’s former foreign intelligence head, Victor Ivanovych Hvozd.

Hvozd died on Friday, May 28, as he was transferred to the Dahab Central Hospital after a diving issue.

The tourist was diving 40 meters deep before he suddenly rose to the water surface, his Ukrainian friend who accompanied him said, adding that he attempted to prevent him from this sudden rise fearing for his life but failed.

The Ukrainian tourist was alive when he rose to the water surface and removed his respirator, the prosecution’s statement said. However, he died after his friend and an Egyptian diver could pull him out of the sea.

The tourist had an international diving license that permits him to dive up to 100 meters deep, his friend, the diving center owner and a diving trainer who accompanied the tourist told the prosecution.

They blamed his death on his sudden rise to the sea surface and denied any criminal suspicion.

By meaning the tourist’s body, the prosecution said it could find bluish discoloration of skin in his face and neck.

The prosecution also spotted secretions coming out from his mouth and red spots appearing on his feet and back.

The prosecution informed the Ukrainian Embassy to directly follow up on the investigation measures and assigned a forensic doctor to spot the cause of the death. The prosecution ordered examining the tourist’s diving equipment to determine whether they suited that high depth.