Mystery of diver who died near same spot tourist has vanished

Following the disappearance of a Russian tourist on a diving expedition, the case of an experienced diver who died in mysterious circumstances nearby has resurfaced.

Kristina Osipova, from St Petersburg, Russia, was exploring the deep seas during a ten-day cruise with her husband in the Red Sea.

Believed to be an experienced diver, she vanished earlier this week in underwater caves in the popular Egypt spot.

It’s understood she and husband Yuri were already at the permitted 120ft when they chose to go deeper ‘without any special equipment’.

The man decided to abort the dive after beginning to lose consciousness and resurfaced. However, Kristina was nowhere to be seen.

A search party is now underway to find her and after little success so far, the search area has been expanded but the hope of finding the tourist alive is dwindling, rescuers have said.

The case has eerie similarities to another diver's death in the 1990s - and there are still several unanswered questions.

Back in 1997, British cave-diving ace Rob Palmer died in rather mysterious circumstances in the Red Sea off Hurghada, Egypt.

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One of the best-known divers in the world at the time, the 45-year-old was quite the daredevil.

Palmer was in Egypt for a technical diving conference and he and three of his pals went for a routine dive.

But once in the water, instead of swimming over to the wall, he was seen heading straight down into the blue.

His friends tries to save him, diving to around 200 feet deep, but there was ultimately nothing they could do.

Unsure of what was happening to Palmer, they got to a depth where they just had to stop and watch their mate disappear below them.

Diving instructor Tim Breen said: “There was nothing we could do. We just had to watch him sink into the blackness.

"There is little chance of finding his body. The area is more than 400ft deep."

It’s reported that Palmer’s luggage was lost in transit on the way to Egypt, so the experienced diver was using borrowed equipment.

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But, he’d used it the day before and was a very experienced diver, so it’s considered unlikely he would have been incapable of controlling his buoyancy.

Close friend John Bantin said: "No one knows what happened. His buoyancy control device may have failed, or he may have had a heart attack."

When it comes to the recently-vanishing Kristina Osipova, rescue ship commander Mustafa Nabil told REN TV: “We are still searching for the missing person, we have also informed all ships in the area that if anyone sees the body of a missing diver on the surface to contact law enforcement.”