Capbreton: a diver disappeared at sea, the search stopped
A diver from the Aquanautes club did not come back from an outing off Capbreton. The alert was given Thursday, March 16 around 11 a.m.
Tragic outing at sea for the divers of the Capbreton Aquanautes club, on the morning of this Thursday, March 16. Aged 50, one of the six participants in this dive has been missing for about 11 hours.
As soon as the alert was given, from the boat of the Capbreton diving club, the Cross Etel coordinated search operations in the area, located about 1.2 nautical miles (2.2 km) from the port.
The National Society for Sea Rescue (SNSM) of Capbreton, with its star "San Nicolas II" and its jet-ski, like the Bayonne semi-rigid boat "Beñat", have been engaged. The Ecu 64 gendarmerie helicopter transported helicopter-borne rescuers from Bayonne, then flew over the sector from which the diver did not come up. Firefighters from the underwater team of Sdis Pyrénées-Atlantiques were also mobilized, without success.
Hopeless
In the absence of results, the maritime prefect of the Atlantic decided to interrupt the search around 2:45 p.m. No new operation is planned for this Friday, March 17. The gendarmes questioned some of the divers who embarked for this outing on Thursday afternoon, in an attempt to collect elements to explain the accident.
“He stayed at the bottom. And the body has not yet been found, ”laments the president of the Aquanautes club. Grégory Guichemerre confirms that the missing fifty-year-old was "a regular" in scuba diving, an active member of the club.
Absent from this Thursday outing, he wonders about the origin of the tragedy, aware that his questions may remain unanswered. “We will never know what happened. A mechanical accident, with a concern on its equipment, or a physical accident, with discomfort?
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