Polish Diver Dead, Six Rescued - Malta

[DandyDon]

Diver dies, six rescued by AFM in Wied iz-Zurrieq

48-year-old Polish diver dies after finding himself in difficulty while diving off Wied iz-Zurrieq

A Polish diver died this morning after he found himself in difficulty while diving off Wied iz-Zurrieq this morning.

He was one of four Polish divers who found themselves in difficulty and were rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta in bad weather conditions this morning after bathers noticed seven divers who appeared to be in distress.

An AFM helicopter was immediately deployed while paramedics, and police officials from the Rapid Intervention Unit and the Zurrieq police station were also dispatched.

Three of the divers, one Maltese and two French, managed to make their way to the shore after having initially being drawn out to sea by strong currents.

The others four divers remained in distress and had to be winched by AFM rescuers to an Aloutte III helicopter.

One of the divers, a 48-year-old Pole, was immediately transferred to an ambulance as he was in a state of unconsciousness. The man was conveyed to Mater Dei Hospital, where he was declared dead a few moments later.

The other divers, who were also Polish, were subsequently rescued by the AFM helicopter before being given medical assistance by paramedics on site.

A magisterial inquiry is being held.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Oh dear. This is very sad news. One can't help but wonder now how Malta intends to treat this accident.

 

[Phil_C]

Another sad report from Malta, and one that will do nothing to ease the current tensions between the scuba industry and ministry of tourism on Malta which is already strained.

Reading between the lines this sounds like this may be an incident that occurred on the surface related to the poor/deteriorating weather and strong currents, rather than an incident whilst the divers were submerged, but it will once again bring in to question the decision to dive, which was one issue called int question in relation to the other recent deaths. A key question I suspect will end up being whether the conditions had been forecast or not.

The report suggests there was a Maltese amongst the group, so it maybe they had a local guide or DM with them, in which case it does not bode well if the weather and sea conditions had been forecast.

It will be interesting to see what extra information comes out - P

 

[BoltSnap]

No real details of the causes of the situation and what actually caused the death in the announcement.