German Diver Dies in Utila

[Slamfire]

Muere turista alemán cuando practicaba buceo
Translation is mine.

Volker Wittweno was trapped in a sea cave.
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
A German tourist died while diving inside a cave in Utila. At the time of his death he was diving with his wife and two friends. Police authorities identified the German victim as Volker Wittweno (51) last Thursday [April 26th]. The foreigner was in the country as a tourist and decided to explore the sea cave known as Upco along with his wife and a couple of friends.

Once inside the cave, Wittweno was trapped in between rocks and was unable to get out to the surface in time. His friends and wife had to get out of the place in search for help since they were unable to get him out of the cave.

Police authorities informed that the Upco cave is used by tourist for marine exploration, but it is a dangerous place. Visitors will often lack the adequate training and equipment required to be submerged inside its deep waters. They informed that Wittweno went in carrying only one diving mask.

Authorities from Forensic Medicine informed that the cause of death was drowning by immersion.

 

[Scuba-dan]

Pretty sad story again....Last Friday it was those 3 divers in Playa, again in a cave. That is 1 of the reason why i will not dive in caves. The other, well I'm too chicken.....

Condolence to the wife and friends...

 

[AfterDark]

Hardly a day goes by without seeing a report of a diver(s)death posted here. I don't get the allure of cave diving myself but if people want to do it there are safer ways to go about doing it, so sad and unnecessary.

 

[heavierthanlead]

...Police authorities... informed that Wittweno went in carrying only one diving mask.

There's your problem, right there. Wonder how much oxygen he had?

 

[OW Newbi]

Can anyone explain why if there was a group of them they didn’t leave him with an extra tank and the others share Air? Were they at depth?

Such a Sad story RIP.

As my name suggests i completed my Open water off playa Del Carmen last week and was actually on dive 2 as the Chac Mool 3 commenced their fateful dive. On returning to the dive shop in elation the next day having completed dives 3 and 4 and passing, The dive shop owner asked us for a minutes silence as news filtered through of the Sad News in the area that Friday morning. As you can imagine elation turned to horror and it’s somewhat haunted me ever since, and have felt compelled to follow this board every day.

So sad.

 

[Slamfire]

Can anyone explain why if there was a group of them they didn’t leave him with an extra tank and the others share Air? Were they at depth?

I wonder if the "only one diving mask" comment refers to free diving and not a scuba diving. I am not familiar with Upco.

 

[heavierthanlead]

I wonder if the "only one diving mask" comment refers to free diving and not a scuba diving. I am not familiar with Upco.

You may be right. See: "Go to the Freshwater Caves":

The island of Utila has a range of activities! | UTILA GUIDE

 

[Slamfire]

Then the reporter got it wrong when he called it a "sea cave" (cueva maritima).

 

[Sloeber]

The information provided here is incorrect, as is so often is the case.

The gentleman went into the cave ALONE and with only SNORKELING gear, as is very common in this cave. After some time had passed his wife and friends became concerned he had not returned, and they went to look for him. He was found at the bottom, right next to the entrance. He was not back in the cave system, nor was he scuba diving it.

What actually happened no one will ever know, despite the news outlet attempting ot recreate the scene, simply because he was alone. What most have surmissed is he was freediving the cave, as is common because there are several chambers all with guide ropes leading the way. He may have become disoriented and lost his way, but as I mentioned above he was not found inside the system, but rather right at the entrance.

Anything beyond that is purely speculation. Sad story indeed, but for the SB community this was not a scuba accident.

HTH

---------- Post added April 27th, 2012 at 01:45 PM ----------

Few more notes -

UPCO cave refers to the power company, Utila Power Company aka UPCo. The cave is alongside the powerplant.

It is a freshwater cave, but exits in the ocean after a significant dive time.

Getting scuba gear into this cave from the FW side is extremely difficult. The cave requires a fair distance of crawling, and it is tough enough for me to do with just a mask and fins, let alone full scuba gear - not to mention cave diving gear. For those that wish to cave it, they generally nter from the oceanside where the entrance is considerably easier.

 

[Slamfire]

Thanks for the clarification, Henry. It is definitely a different story from the first impressions you get right after you read the news article.