ALBURY, Australia (18 Sep 2006) -- Police divers from Sydney will inspect the scene of Friday's fatal diving accident near Albury today in an attempt to better understand how the man, 35, died. Sgt Paul Goodwin yesterday revealed the man was believed to have become caught on something underwater while on a diving expedition at The Pit, 8km west of Albury on the Riverina Highway near Splitters Creek. The man was from Drummoyne in Sydney and was believed to be a diving trainer and a member of the Australian Army. "He was taking part in a commercial diving certificate course with Descend Diving in Albury," Sgt Goodwin said. "The exercise was to locate and lift a concrete barrel. "The man was believed to have somehow become caught and other divers have tried to free him." Sgt Goodwin said the man was freed and pulled from the water of the disused quarry where other divers started cardio pulmonary resuscitation until ambulance officers arrived. This was continued en route to Albury Base Hospital but the man died soon after. It is unclear at this stage how long the man had been trapped underwater before he was freed. "Divers from Sydney will attend the scene to find out how the man became caught and to conduct further investigations," he said. | | Lifeflight helicopter may have saved bent diver. Reports on Friday suggested the man had done two initial dives before the accident happened. The Descend Training Centre dive website describes The Pit as Australia's only dedicated occupational dive site, with about 2ha of surface area, low visibility, and fresh water. There are working tasks within the dive site including a 30m pipeline, several one-tonne lifting tasks and a Volkswagen Kombi van. Workcover was also informed of the accident on Friday afternoon and will investigate to determine what happened. SOURCE - Border MailSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
