Survivors of the Red Sea tourist boat disaster 2024 have revealed shocking details about the official witness statements.
According to the BBC, survivors of the deadly Sea Story sinking have revealed that they were forced to sign official witness statements in a language they could not even read or understand.
As per the survivors, they were pressured to sign statements that said they were not accusing anyone of “criminal wrongdoing” in Arabic, which was translated into English by an employee of the boat company.
The 11 survivors who talked to the BBC claim that the Egyptian authorities were trying to hide what had actually happened by blaming a big wave for the accident in the investigation.
Survivors of the tourist boat recalled that hours after they were brought ashore, they were subjected to “an interrogation” by officials claiming to be judges. Some of the people were questioned while they were still in their hospital beds.
Sarah Martin, an NHS doctor from Lancashire, told the news agency, “We were told we couldn't leave the room until they'd done everybody's statements.”
A Norwegian police investigator, one of the survivors, argued that she had "no clue" what was written on those four pages in Arabic. "They could have written anything. I don't know what I signed."
Moreover, sharing the details about the man who translated the statements into English, Spanish diver Hissora Gonzalez said that initially, the man did not introduce himself as an employee. “He just said, 'You have to tell me what happened, and then you have to sign this piece of paper.'"
For the unversed, a Sea Story carrying 46 people sank in the early hours of 25 November 2024. Four people died in the incident, while seven people, including two British divers, are still missing.
