Portland dive accident

[sydney-diver]

Local media are reporting a dive accident in Victoria. 1 dead, 1 missing and 1 in serious condition.

Diving accident near Portland in Victoria's west leaves one dead, one hurt | News.com.au

 

[Tricia]

THREE people involved? This is awful. Please keep us updated.

Thanks,
Trish

 

[sydney-diver]

Reports keep changing, not sure if it's a Scuba or Snorking accident or combo of both

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/05/2864508.htm?section=justin

Seems heavy surf maight have contributed

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/on...n-victorias-west/story-e6frf7jo-1225850003334

 

[H2O 70]

It is tragic, but it doesn't seem to be SCUBA related. The man who died was a snorkeler who got injured getting in/out/to the water and his would be rescuers became victims.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Rocks, waves, injury & death. The lesson for us all is that the water's often a lot stronger than we give it credit for, and that entry and exit strategies need to be carefully planned before the dive.
Rick

 

[bsee65]

The articles mention that the group involved was "on holiday", so it is possible they were unfamiliar with the area in which they chose to dive. We don't know if they entered the water over the rocks and intended to exit there, or were forced to attempt exit there by currents. We don't know if the seas changed between the time of their entry and the attempted exit. Even without knowing those answers, it's easy to take the lesson of knowing your dive site and planning your exit before you enter.

H2O 70, I got from the articles that the fatality was one of the rescuers who fell onto a rock and that both divers are okay. I don't see where anyone else is either critical or missing at this point, either. Whether they were scuba or snorkelers is still cloudy to me. Snorkel makes more sense combined with the rest of the story, but I wouldn't put money down on either side based upon those articles.

 

[sydney-diver]

It is tragic, but it doesn't seem to be SCUBA related.

At least one of the articals says "Two brothers, aged 38 and 17, entered the water to scuba dive and snorkel". I also read a comment which indicated they may have been collecting abalone so that may explain the combination of scuba/free diving.

Edit: A poster on a local Oz forum has indicated he was diving off the Queenscliffe wharf, 2 divers did a non-stop ascent from 42m leaving their twins and stages on the bottom? The deceased appears to have been attempting to rescue and got into trouble.

 

[franny]

My understanding was the one at Queenscliff was a separate incidient, especially as the two locations are about 3-4 hours apart.

It will be interesting to see what the final details are. As per usual, the media reports are not very detailed, and seem to be conflicting.

 

[sydney-diver]

Yeah I was starting to think there was 2 seperate accidents. Thanks for that.