STONEY COVE, UK (10 July 2006) -- A diver died and four others were injured yesterday at Britain's largest inland diving centre, where there have been 22 deaths in 28 years. An RAF rescue team was scrambled to the National Diving Centre, at Stoney Cove, near Hinckley, Leics, after the group of qualified divers ran into difficulties. One man, who has not been named, was pronounced dead after experts failed to resuscitate him at the waterside. Four others suffered decompression sickness - the bends - after guiding the dead man to the surface. They were flown to Leicester Royal Infirmary then transferred to Murrayfield private hospital, Wirral, which has a compression unit. Their condition was not thought to be life-threatening. All five men were qualified divers and were under the supervision of instructors from a Derbyshire diving school. They were completing a training programme to improve deep diving skills. A company spokesman for the Stoney Cove Marine Trials dive centre said: "The Stoney Cove rescue team responded instantly, and almost immediately other divers in the group brought the distressed diver to the surface. "In bringing him to the surface, four divers ascended faster that normal. As a result they have been taken to a recompression chamber. "Tragically, the diver who got into distress was pronounced dead at the Leicester Royal Infirmary." Divers continued to use the centre yesterday as Leicestershire police and the Health and Safety Executive opened an investigation. Stoney Cove is widely regarded as one of the best inland dive sites in the world. With depths of about 120ft, the flooded quarry is used by 60,000 divers each year. A Stoney Cove Marine Trials company spokesman pointed out that some of the 22 deaths since the centre opened in 1978 had been from natural causes. Three years ago the company paid £47,500 following the death of an amateur diver. An investigation found that Paul Gallacher, 33, had not completed enough training when he was allowed to take part in a dive that proved fatal. | 
