Christina Quinn had a long career in the NHS
By Rachel Russell
BBC News
A woman who died along with two other British people in a diving boat fire in the Egyptian Red Sea would be “missed beyond words”, her family has said.
Christina Quinn, 58, chief executive of St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth, was a “rock to many”, a statement said.
Initial reports suggest the fire was caused by an electrical fault in the boat’s engine room at 06:30 local time on Sunday.
Ms Quinn was one of 15 guests on a week-long stay on the boat.
The boat, which left Port Ghalib on 6 June, had been due to return from sea on Sunday.
A statement from Ms Quinn’s family said she was “a sister, daughter, wife, aunty, friend, and rock to many”.
Last month she had taken up a new role as CEO at St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth after previously working as director of NHS South West Leadership Academy.
Tour operator Scuba Travel said 12 Britons on board had gone to at an early-morning briefing on Sunday but three others, including Ms Quinn, did not as they had “apparently decided not to dive” that morning.
In a statement, the company said the “severity of the fire” meant the 12 divers at the briefing were immediately evacuated to another boat nearby.
They were followed by the 14 crew members, including the captain and two dive guides, after attempts to reach the missing guests were unsuccessful, it said.
The identity of the two other British victims has not yet been released.
