Armier fatality - Malta

[DandyDon]

Update 2 | Magisterial inquiry ordered as diver, 65, dies in Armier

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered after a man died this morning while diving in the Ta' Maċċa area in Armier.

The 65-year-old man from Paola was pronounced dead at the scene by a team of paramedics who arrived shortly after the man's lifeless body was brought to shore by bathers.

Police said the incident occurred at around 11am, when the man, a free-diver who police said was diving for octopus with his harpoon, got his leg tangled in a rope and was pulled underwater. The victim's friend, a fellow free-diver, noticed that the man was struggling to come ashore before raising the alarm.

Another man managed to untangle the man's leg from the rope before bringing him to shore. A team of police officers, AFM officials and a team of paramedics were at the scene shortly after the alarm was raised.

Efforts to resuscitate the man were all in vain and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim's friend was treated for shock.

Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona has ordered an inquiry into the man's death while police's investigations are ongoing.