A week on, search for teacher missing in Red Sea continues

JEDDAH — The search is still continuing for schoolteacher Ahmed Al-Sharif, who went missing near Shuaiba while on a boat trip with friends in the Red Sea a week ago, local daily Al-Madina reported on Monday, quoting a Border Guard source. The source said Al-Sharif arrived at Al-Qattan Border Guard outpost in Shuaiba last Monday, accompanied by 11 other people and requested permission to enter into the open sea for picnic. He said the permission was asked for four hours starting at 4 p.m. and ending at 8 p.m. They were given permission to make a boat trip into the sea but never to swim or dive. The source said the picnickers boarded an 11-meter-long boat but three hours later the captain of the boat informed the Border Guard that Al-Sharif jumped out of the boat for swimming and disappeared. The captain told the Border Guard that Al-Sharif kept swimming and went far until he disappeared from sight completely. The source said more than 50 divers from the Border Guard and volunteers started a hectic search for the missing schoolteacher but could not find him within a radius of six miles. He said the area is full of coral reefs and thinking that the missing man might have got tangled in them, the entire sea was combed but without any trace of the man. The source said the helicopters of the Interior Ministry also joined the search operation and the authorities at Jeddah Islamic Port has advised all ships passing through the area to look for the missing man. "The search operation is continuing unabated day and night. We are also combing the coasts and the shores. This is a humanitarian duty before it is an official work for the Border Guards," he said.