Blue Hole 'deadlier than Everest' has claimed 'more than 100 lives in 15 years'

The Blue Hole sinkhole is said to have claimed as many as 200 lives over the years, with one expert saying it's even more deadly than attempting to climb Mount Everest.

Blue Hole, a 330-foot marine sinkhole in the Red Sea near Dahab in Egypt, features in new Netflix documentary The Deepest Breath.

The documentary tells the story of free divers, Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan, as they team up to break world records in the sport, but which ends in tragedy.

The doc sees Zecchini prepare to take on the Blue Hole in Dahab, where she must dive 184 feet below the Red Sea and take on an 85-foot-long tunnel.

Netflix

The Deepest Breath has been hailed as ‘one of the best documentaries’ by viewers, while others said they struggled to breathe while watching it.

During the documentary one diver claims that the spot is even more dangerous than Mount Everest.

William Trubridge, a free-diving world-record holder, tells the camera: "In terms of fatalities the Blue Hole is even more perilous than Mount Everest."

Although Trubridge’s claim is unverified by fact checkers, according to reports, locals say around 200 divers have lost their lives at Blue Hole, while a 2014 report from Slate claims 130-or-so people have died there in ‘the last 15 years’.

However, there is no public record of deaths at Blue Hole, making exact numbers hard to estimate.

Among those who have died at the spot include Russian diver Yuri Lipski, who dived into the hole never to resurface in 2000.

Netflix

When a diver swam down to retrieve his body, he made the chilling discovery that Lipski’s helmet camera had managed to record his final moments. The clip was shared online, with the title Fatal Diving Accident Caught On Tape, and has had more than six million views.

So it’s little surprise that it's been given the somewhat grim nickname ‘divers’ cemetery’.

But - much like Everest - it’s deadly reputation doesn’t seem to put people off giving it a go.

One diver has even suggested that it’s not as dangerous as people may think - as long as they’re prepared.

Diving instructor Alex Heyes told the Guardian in 2017: “It just isn’t that dangerous.”

She added: “People do 100 dives and think they know it all, but they’re not prepared for that kind of depth. A bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”

You can check out The Deepest Breath on Netflix now.

Topics: World News, TV and Film

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]