Chilling footage after diver ignored warnings and recorded his final moments
A harrowing clip shows the heart-stopping final moments of a diver at a deadly diving site, after he ignored cautions about his actions.
On April 28, 2000, Russian-Israeli adventurer Yuri Lipski went down into the abyss of the Blue Hole in Egypt's Red Sea and vanished.
Tragically, Lipski is believed to have died around 300 feet underwater, a depth where high pressure may have caused nitrogen narcosis – leading to a dangerous state of euphoria, bewilderment, hallucinations, and impaired judgment.
Miraculously, Lipski's helmet camera was recovered, capturing a ghostly glimpse into his last breaths as reported by the Daily Star.
The eerie film shows the ocean seabed rocks while Lipski's breathing reverberates in the background. He planned to record the famed arch of the Blue Hole, explained Tarek Omar, a seasoned diver who had met Lipski before the doomed expedition, reports the Mirror US.
Omar, nicknamed 'The Elder Diver', initially discouraged the reckless unaccompanied mission, saying: "I said 'OK, so you'll need two weeks' training with me first, and then we'll film'," he told The Guardian.
However, pressed for time with just a weekend free, Lipski turned down the essential training and dove alone. By the following morning, his remains were discovered.
The Blue Hole, prized among divers but infamous for its perilous conditions, has seen up to an estimated 200 souls lost to its depths.
"Recovering bodies is a case-by-case thing; I do it pro bono," Omar revealed to Scene Arabia. "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."
The Blue Hole, notorious as a diving hotspot, is believed to have claimed up to 200 lives. This submarine sinkhole, favoured by scuba enthusiasts, plummets swiftly to about 100 metres at its deepest with dual openings to the sea, posing a tempting yet perilous challenge for adventurers worldwide.
Yet for Omar, this daunting location is as familiar as home.
"I know it like my kitchen," he told Cairo Scene. Recalling his initial sortie of countless "missions" Omar's two-decade tenure at the Blue Hole has even seen him emerge with accolades, notably an impressive record-breaking 209-metre dive.
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