Egyptian rescuers said Tuesday they had lost hope of finding four missing scuba divers alive, four days after they disappeared off the coast of a Red Sea resort, AP reported. The divers _ two Russians, a Dutchman and an Egyptian _ were reported missing Saturday near the resort town of Marsa Alam, 700 kilometers (435 miles) southeast of Cairo where they were exploring a coral reef. Another Russian diver with the group, Vladislav Lukyanchenko, who swam to shore said there had been sharks and large waves in the area where he became separated from the others. The Red Sea Association for Diving and Marine Sport said divers had now gone missing for too long and that it didn't expect to find survivors. «I am sorry to say there is no chance to find them alive,» said Alaa El Din Abdelgeleel, the association's head. «We are limiting the search to the coastal areas, looking for their bodies,» he said. He identified the missing Egyptian scuba diving guide as Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan. The missing Russian man was identified as Dmitry Kapitonov and the woman as Yelena Sundukova and the Dutch man as Michel van Assendeof. Abdelgeleel had said that the Egyptian guide was an experienced diver and the Russian woman a professional diving instructor. But he said the waves were high and that the divers did not have flash lights or whistles, which could have helped rescuers locate them.
